The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of the entire Ghostwriter staff. To decide on this endorsement, the staff anonymously voted on the candidate they preferred. Hillary Clinton won with 19 votes, with 4 for Donald Trump, and one write-in vote.

In the year of 2016, our nation stands divided in an unprecedented way. With a state of deadlock between our executive and legislative branches, mixed with polarizing stances on the global, economic, and social issues standing face-to-face with the United States of America, it is not surprising that there is a heated debate spreading through the air regarding who it is voters trust to lead this country. The United States is in need of a leader who can unite our two halves and progress the nation further, not continue to divide. Of the candidates running for the President of the United States, such traits of leadership can be seen in Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

It must be acknowledged, despite the passion of her supporters, that many American voters simply resort to Secretary Clinton under the impression that she is the better option in comparison to her opponent, Donald Trump. Indeed, many Americans are reluctantly going to vote for Secretary Clinton as a better of two evils, and conversely, there is a large portion of Trump voters who see Secretary Clinton as a corrupt politician of whom they must steer clear by hesitantly endorsing her opponent.

It is undeniable that despite the many substanceless accusations made against Secretary Clinton’s political career, her accomplishments have improved the lives of those she wished to help. This can be seen even during her time as First Lady in 1995, when she made a speech in favor of women’s rights in the time and place where the mere concept of rights for women were not only frowned upon, but dangerous to be proclaimed by an American woman in the boundaries of a communist government. Nevertheless, she risked announcing to a public crowd in Beijing that “Women’s rights are human rights,” regardless of the consequences that she might have very well faced.

There was no personal interest in making her 1995 speech in Beijing other than the personal satisfaction of knowing that she advocated a cause which would make the world a better place to live.

She did not stop there either, Secretary Clinton continued to support equal pay, the funding of Planned Parenthood, and government intervention in the college rape culture of the United States. In comparison to her opponent, who brags about, and allegedly took part in, the sexual assault of women, a contrast can clearly be seen by even the blindest of voters as to who promises to nurture the future daughters of this generation, and who will turn his back to them as they are objectified and dehumanized.

Beyond the clear and consistent support for human rights, Secretary Clinton’s agenda extends to her support of funding for organizations established purely for the common good of the American people. The Clinton Foundation, established in 1997 by Bill and Hillary Clinton, grew to be a multi-million dollar humanitarian non-profit organization which has helped 11.5 million people receive HIV medication for a 90% lower cost (CNN).

Despite controversy over the legitimacy of this organization, there has yet to be any evidence or reason supporting the conspiracy that she or her husband received any fraction of the funds raised by the Clinton Foundation (CNN).

It is not simply the role of a humanitarian that one must take on as President of the United States, but also that of an experienced leader who can endure the pressure and crucial decision-making of national leadership. As Senator of New York, Secretary Clinton did everything she could to help repair the city after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, both physically and emotionally. She not only worked to receive twenty-billion dollars of government funding for city reparations, but also went door to door comforting the families of those whose lives were lost, and took suggestions as to how she could work to improve lives devastated by tragedy.

As the U.S Secretary of State for eight years, Secretary Clinton took part in global negotiations, treaties, and defense tactics which augmented further her qualifications to take on an even higher level of leadership as President of the United States.

One might argue that Secretary Clinton displayed a lack of competency defending our nation during the attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi back in 2012. Although it is easy to blame Secretary Clinton for the deaths of the four American ambassadors attacked, the gravity of such an incident must be put into perspective. If a mistake so costly could  be made by an experienced government official, one is at the mercy of his imagination to foresee what level of destructive decision-making a man might make when his view on nuclear weapons is:

“If we have them, why can’t we use them?” (Trump, The Telegraph).

The same perspective must be taken into account while taking into consideration Secretary Clinton’s now infamous email scandal. As of now, nothing major has been revealed in the 33,000 emails leaked earlier this month. The only seemingly seedy information recovered revolved around Secretary Clinton’s well-known double-sided attitude on Wall Street. It is understandable why a lack of transparency might act as a turnoff to potential Secretary Clinton voters; however, if we hold her opponent, Trump, to the same standards of transparency, there can be seen, a profoundly greater level of dishonesty and inconsistency in the fact that he constantly spews out fabricated statistics, and on-the-spot falsities.

Secretary Clinton values cultural diversity and wishes to give minorities an opportunity to contribute to the American society and economy, which shows her moral and tolerant beliefs that the US needs. She accepts all religions and believes in welcoming differences between Christianity and Islam. She wishes to increase the inflow of Syrian refugees who are welcomed into the United States. Contrary to Trump’s standpoint on refugee acceptance, she does not believe that banning the immigrants of an entire religion is an effective or ethical way to monitor our borders.

It is not difficult to succumb to fear while conspiracy theories are being thrown around like parade candy, and politicians warn one against the dangerous state of his country; however, we must not allow fear to tempt and persuade us to its very source.

We must not let go of the reins in our hands because we are told that the horse is going in the wrong direction. It is absolutely necessary that at this time in our history, Americans think not with their nerves, but with their minds. The first step to doing so involves voting for a responsible president.

The WA Ghostwriter proudly endorses Hillary Clinton for President of the United States.