Scoring Jon Huntsman

Jon Huntsman still wants to score big. He wanted to be the President. On the surface, before I applied diligence from my book How to Select an American President by James A. George with James A. Rodger (c) 2017, I thought there were possibilities.

What I first knew about him was that he was former Governor of the state of Utah. I knew that President Obama tagged him to be Ambassador to China because he speaks fluent Chinese.

However, being a billionaire by inheritance does not automatically translate in qualifications.

Jon Huntsman for President
Campaign    U.S. presidential election, 2012
Candidate    Jon Huntsman, Jr.
Governor of Utah (2005–2009)
Ambassador to China (2009–2011)
Affiliation    Republican Party
Slogan    Country First

His slogan should be "me first."

Cato Institute Conservative Scoring

"During his term as governor, Huntsman earned a grade of B on the Cato Institute’s biennial governors’ report card, giving him a better score on fiscal issues than either Mitt Romney or Tim Pawlenty earned in his first term (though Pawlenty came on strong during his second term and eventually earned an A). Huntsman’s big successes were on the tax side, where he sought to replace Utah’s graduated income tax with a flat tax, cut the state’s food tax in half, and attempted to eliminate the state’s capital-gains and corporate-franchise taxes. Although not all his efforts were successful, he showed that he understood the importance of low taxes for economic growth and job creation. 

Unfortunately, his record is not nearly as good on the spending side of the ledger. During his time in office, he proposed spending hikes in excess of 6 percent annually, well above the growth in Utahans’ personal income. In fact, measured regarding percentage growth, Huntsman was one of the biggest-spending governors in the nation." 

https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/scoring-huntsman

I stumble on his early years. He was a rich kid from Mormon heritage. He dropped out of school. His academic education was a bust.

"Huntsman was born March 26, 1960, in Redwood City, California.[6] His mother is Karen (née Haight) Huntsman, daughter of LDS Church apostle David B. Haight,[7] and his father is billionaire businessman and philanthropist Jon Huntsman Sr. of the Huntsman Corporation.[8] Through his father, Huntsman Jr. is the great-great-great-grandson of early LDS Church leader Parley P. Pratt.[9] 

At age 15 in 1975, Huntsman earned the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest rank of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA).[10] Huntsman attended Highland High School in Salt Lake City, but dropped out before graduating to pursue his passion as a keyboard player in a rock band called "Wizard."[11][12] Huntsman later obtained a G.E.D. and enrolled at the University of Utah, where he became, like his father, a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. Huntsman served as a Mormon missionary in Taiwan for two years and later transferred to the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in international politics in 1987." 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Huntsman_Jr.#Early_life_and_education

Professional politicians of this type are not recommended as they lack affinity with the majority of Americans that he must represent. Maybe his tune plays well in Utah, but not beyond.

Jon Huntsman’s strange odyssey to become Donald Trump’s man in Moscow 

BY JAMES HOHMANN with Breanne Deppisch 

THE BIG IDEA: Donald Trump has blocked several people who opposed him during the campaign from getting jobs in his administration. So why has he reportedly chosen Jon Huntsman to be the U.S. ambassador to Russia? 

-- The 56-year-old has earned a reputation as someone who ingratiates himself with his patron of the moment but whose long-term loyalty cannot be counted on. His critics – including some who have worked with him – complain privately that he’s always thinking about how he can climb the next step up the ladder. When his name comes up around this town, one often hears words like craven and opportunistic. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2017/03/09/daily-202-jon-huntsman-s-strange-odyssey-to-become-donald-trump-s-man-in-moscow/58c0b326e9b69b1406c75d52/?wpisrc=nl_daily202&wpmm=1

Jon Huntsman, climbing the ladder again.