If history does repeat, then the president was destined to get sick. More than 100 years ago, Woodrow Wilson was the president during the first pandemic that took 675,000 lives over a span of three years. He was deathly ill and suffered a stroke that was not known to the American people at the time. In my article, https://www.theodysseyonline.com/edith-bolling-wilson, Edith Wilson, and the president's staff kept his illness from the public for the last two years of his term. However, the current president is not as politically quiet. And at 1:00 am on Friday, October 2, 2020, he tweeted to his base that the first lady and he tested positive for the virus.

But how did COVID-19 make its way into the White House and send the resident to Walter Reed Hospital for treatment for the virus? The answer to this question is slowly coming out by photos and examples of the actions of the White House entourage. The country is in a state of shock as well as confusion. Supporters have already taken to the streets to campaign for him. We are less than a month away from election day and the incumbent president might become a part of the statistic he refused to acknowledge.

What many of us are learning is the White House staff was extremely negligent in following their own CDC guidelines. No one around the president wore masks, they relied solely on daily testing, and social distancing was done when in public view. They made a mockery of the science behind the mitigation protocols. Yet used one of them as their reason to believe they were absolved from the virus.

So, what happens if the president becomes incapacitated or passes away from the virus? Many will believe that the vice president will step in and take the votes and he will select his vice president. They are wrong. It is up to the Republican National Committee to select the new president.

However, the timing of all of this makes it even more complicated. They have a policy for after the election and before the electoral college vote, and policy for after the electoral college vote and before the inauguration. Yet, the missing policy is what happens if the incumbent president running for re-election dies before all the votes are cast. Seeing as many states have already started voting either by mail or in early voting places, what does that mean for the votes cast if he passes away or becomes unable to fulfill his duties as president?

The world watched during the first debate when the president made disparaging comments of his opponent for wearing a face mask. The sad part is that neither participant at the debate wore a mask and we also learned this week that the president and his entourage did not get the required test at the Cleveland Clinic. Makes me wonder if they aware of the positive results prior but did not want to give up the debate for COVID?

Right now, six members of his entourage have tested positive and this is probably just the tip of the iceberg. The current administration has put hundreds of people at risk with their careless actions. I don't want to "downplay" his lack of understanding or give him any more sympathy then he has given the thousands that have succumbed to this virus before him. He, unlike the thousands before him, has a greater chance of surviving solely because he is the president and in turn, the class distinction never dies.