When I had become governor of North Carolina I was pleased with my position because I had desired to be governor. We brought diversity to a state that was torn apart racially and finically, and we brought an economy back. My first few challenges were before I became governor. I was torn apart between what I wanted to be, I was in the military for a few years and when I returned I had a great education. The local priest said "you oughta just become a priest!" I originally intended to become a priest but I soon opted out because I met Mikayla. She was a beautiful with the most gorgeous eyes and hair. Of course she already had a boyfriend but afterwards I took a chance and we dated, and eventually married. America was in deep problems with wars and the economy and I became especially disturbed with the increasing racial tensions that seemed to shower the United States. I was a confident person when I ran for governor promising the truth and to end the racial divide. My opponent David Hollow was extremely conservative who didn't once mention or address the human rights problems North Carolina faced. I won in a landslide which in some ways helped my eventual presidential campaign and also hurt. In 1977 the United States seemed to be going backwards in terms of economy and human rights. Inflation was hurting and confidence in government was at an all time low. The government was embarrassed nearly every week with a scandal or some leak. The cabinet on several occasions was changed and for the first time I said to Mikayla, "If I were president I would completely wipe out the idiots in the cabinet and work on the real issues instead of funding quagmire wars." "Well you oughta run for president then!" She responded. The United States was doing little to promote peace and the "land of the free" seemed to fade into a thing of the past. "Welcome to the land of the government" I joked at a meeting. In North Carolina we were effective in our actions and we managed to get the things we'd promised done. My daughter Mary enjoyed living in the governors mansion and she grew up with a fine education. Originally we had come from Mooresville which was a small town, and when I shared my political aspirations I was looked down upon. In college I met David Jordon, Henry Morrison and Micheal Cleary who were all very bright students, I told David that if I ran for governor I would need his support to win and he promised he would if I ran. He kept his promise and because my most effective supporter. I met with my three supporters frequently to share ideas with and discuss the most important issues. On February 18th I told them of my idea to run for president. Henry was arguably the best economic centered man on the East coast with a wit that was sharp. I often bounced ideas and mock plans to him. I worked on a budget plan for North Carolina in 1977 the previous year and he was the most involved man. My last year in 1978 proved to be difficult as the teachers union performed a strike for better pay and better classroom conditions. I met with Sandra Ford head of the teacher union to discuss a plan to not only get teachers more money but give kids a better education. We reached a contract agreement on June 8th and she told me, "if you really are running for president, fix our countries school system, it's more important than you'll ever know." Me and Henry discussed what it would take to find a suitable budget for teachers in the country endlessly in 1978. David was concerned that the school system revamp wasn't important and that I would be wasting time on it. Micheal was equally concerned. As I finished my final few months in office I needed to make a choice of reelection or to seek the presidential nomination in 1980. After discussing it with family and close friends I decided I would run for president and announced it on August 8th 1978. Something I had an advantage over was that many of the people running started their campaign in 1980 while I started mine in early 1979. After finishing my term I gathered my strongest advisors and political allies to help me create a campaign. David Jordan suggests I should focus on ending spending on military and work on inflation. Micheal suggests I should early on have good relations with the Soviet Union. We originally wanted to put our headquarters in Mooresville but one of my advisors said we'd get more attraction in Charlotte. I got a team of 200 volunteers, family, friends, and former politicians to help me. We knew we had a large challenge ahead of us. On New Year's Eve we all celebrated the future and looking for Americas future.
