President of the United States Nikki Haley–it could happen

American politics is always big on ‘firsts’. The proverbial political debut is often more important than one’s actual policies.

–JFK was the first Catholic POTUS

–Ronald Reagan the first Hollywood actor POTUS

–Barack Obama the first black POTUS

–Donald Trump is the first reality TV/apolitical POTUS

Indeed, the main thrust of Hillary Clinton’s campaign was that she would be the first female POTUS. Since that wasn’t enough to convince most voters, this is a ‘first’ that is still very much up for grabs.

This is where Nikki Haley steps in. Haley is Donald Trump’s Ambassador to the United Nations, a role that is usually reserved for sober, serious individuals with experience in international diplomacy and a life-long interest in geo-politics. Nikki Haley is about as far from this description as one could image, though to be fair, few recent US envoys to the UN fit this description. Barack Obama’s Ambassador Samantha Power was something of an hysterical ideologically motivated fanatic masquerading as a diplomat.

Since her appointment as Ambassador, Nikki Haley has been going around the US television circuit acting like she’s one part Secretary of State and one part President of the World. Her antics have led to Rex Tillerson, the far more demure actual Secretary of State to tell Nikki Haley that she must not speak before running her remarks past the State Department.

READ MORE: Tillerson puts Nikki Haley in her place. Tells her to clear comments with State Department

While many see this a step towards restraining Haley, I disagree.

For Haley, being UN Ambassador is all about exposure, not about content. She would have happily taken a more visible role and has been working hard to make her existing role far more visible than it traditional has been for others.

This is why the obvious question ought to be asked. Apart from attaining the un-elected position as Secretary of State or the appointed position of Vice President, what is Haley’s next ambition?

She could run for US Senate, but few Senators have achieved the level of media exposure in years, that Haley has managed to attain in months.

This leaves only one elected position, that of President.

Yes, it is safe to say that Nikki Haley is positioning herself to run for President. With many speculating that Donald Trump may not run in 2020 and the Democratic party still very much in disarray, it leaves the door to the White House wide open. Mike Pence has little charisma and Rex Tillerson looks tired enough in his current position, one which his family had to essentially beg him to take.

Nikki Haley is essentially using the United Nations as an early days campaign platform for her domestic agenda. It is an act of shame. It disgraces the United Nations, an organisation with a noble goal but a largely ineffective composition and it also shames the United States for the same reason that Caligula appointing his favourite horse Incitatus as a Roman Consul, brought shame to Imperial Rome, according to Dion Kassios Kokkeianos (aka Dio Cassius).

The reality TV show that the Donald Trump White House is increasingly becoming, may yet see the UN’s apprentice aspiring to become the Chairman of The Board Commander In Chief.

The phrase ‘only in America’ has never represented something so vulgar.