The making of the president in 2008, 2012, and 2016

Some WORLD members have asked when we’ll start profiling presidential candidates. The answer is, a week from today—and readers wanting insights into three of the candidates might look into profiles and interviews we’ve run over the past decade.

The cover story in the Oct. 3 issue of WORLD Magazine (released digitally next Friday) focuses on two outsiders, Donald Trump and Ben Carson. Trump soaks up big media attention, but a more interesting story so far is the ascent of Carson. The more voters listen to his quiet but passionate approach, the better he does in the polls. I also was impressed when I interviewed him in 2012. Here’s a link to a portion of that interview, and within that Q&A are links to three other excerpts from our conversation.

We also covered the opposition Carson faced when Emory University invited him to give the school’s commencement address in May 2012. He pulled out because he’s the anti-Trump: He didn’t want controversy over his appearance to overshadow student achievements that deserved all the attention that day.

WORLD then reported on Carson’s big national emergence in 2013, when he spoke truth to the power, Barack Obama, who sat a few feet away from him at the National Prayer Breakfast. Carson criticized the president’s call for higher taxes, called for a flat tax, and proposed health savings accounts as an alternative to Obamacare.

We’ve also run cover stories on Mike Huckabee. I wrote about him soon after he announced his first presidential run early in 2007, and later that year reported on how “a long shot becomes a ‘for real’ contender.” We had many more stories as his attempt fell short. I enjoyed shadowing him for a day in 2009 as his Fox New television career took off.

We also followed Rick Santorum for a day in 2005. It was one of my most educational Washington experiences: Then a senator, Santorum had 33 meetings over an eight-hour period, and although his focus was impressive, it left me pondering how we expect our legislators to vote wisely when it’s hard enough to remember which group of supplicants they next will meet.

I also interviewed Santorum in 2010 and 2011 as he geared up for and then launched his presidential run.

Jamie Dean, our news editor, will be leading our campaign coverage. We hope to introduce you to other candidates you may not have noticed, but it’s possible that all the George Pataki and Jim Gilmore fans out there may be disappointed. It’s a big GOP field and a potentially growing Democratic scrum, so we may not give your favorite as much attention as you might like.