Intertitle: Which over­looked issue should the next President prioritize?

Jon Huntsman: The dimin­ish­ing trust that peo­ple have in their insti­tu­tions of gov­er­nance. Toward their sys­tem gen­er­al­ly. That is the issue that has to be addressed. 

I would say to the next President, with­in thir­ty days of get­ting elect­ed, or maybe fifty days, agree to a goal, a com­mon goal. Is it enti­tle­ment reforms, ener­gy, is it jobs…and promise even before you’re sworn in to get that issue on the front burn­er, artic­u­lat­ed to the American peo­ple, a strat­e­gy deter­mined with Congress, to then spend the first year get­ting it done. I think that alone would cause the American peo­ple to say, ​“Okay. Maybe it does work.”

Intertitle: What book should the next President read before tak­ing office?

Huntsman: Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Because the next President, regard­less of par­ty, is going to have to inte­grate peo­ple from the oth­er side. Even if you’ve read it, read it again, because it brings out that spir­it of putting America first, before pol­i­tics, that we should nev­er forget.