Gregory Larson (not his real name) is an 87-year old white man who lives in the Spokane Valley of Washington State. He is retired after 38 years of military experience—his rank at the time was Colonel. He worked on a family farm prior to his military service. Gregory has what he calls a “volunteer spirit.” Since moving to the Spokane Valley 18 years ago, he has served on a church board, a museum board and on the board of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center. He’s also served on a missionary committee for the Presbyterian church and been a church elder. Additionally, he spent 12 years serving on the Spokane chapter of the Military Officers Association of America. “I held several senior military positions. I had a talent for public speaking. I could also organize and understand financial affairs, so I could do many different things.” He holds a Masters’ Degree in Foreign Affairs, takes college classes in subjects that interest him, which he’s done for ten years, and has a library of 400 books, most of which are in history. He reads constantly and writes essays, which he circulates to friends.

The economy in his part of the country is good, with a lot of small industry and businesses with less than 500 employees. Kaiser Aluminum has a facility in the area that employs about 1,000 workers.

Why did you vote for Donald Trump?

Initially, I favored John Kasich. I thought he was the ideal candidate. But I think Donald Trump was very intelligent in the way he conducted his campaign. He reached people that neither the Democrats or other Republicans reached. I couldn’t accept Hillary Clinton. I didn’t approve of her far left ideas for handling the economy and also the way she handled classified documents. With my military background I handled a lot of classified documents. If I mishandled one of them, I’d end up in prison.

I thought that her foreign policy was fairly good, however. I disagree with Donald Trump on international trade. Eighty-two percent of what we produce in the state of Washington is shipped to foreign countries. One-third of what Boeing manufactures is shipped to China. We also ship nine million boxes of apples to Mexico each year, and nearly half of our cherry crop is shipped by air to China. We also grow soft white wheat here, which is low in protein and perfect for making noodles. It gets shipped to Japan, Korea and Taiwan.

Did you vote for Donald Trump or against Hillary Clinton?

I’ve been a traditional Republican for years, and I even ran for the Washington state legislature when I first retired. I was also a precinct committee member for two years, from ages 21 to 23. During my years in military service, I had to put all of that aside and serve my president even if I disagreed with him. I agree with Donald Trump on some of his policies, but not all of them.

Who did you vote for last time?

Mitt Romney. I thought he was an ideal candidate.

Did you vote for Donald Trump because you like him as a person, or you like his policies or both?

I didn’t like the way Donald Trump campaigned. I’ve followed presidential campaigns since 1940 when I was ten years old and Roosevelt and Wilke were the candidates. My dad and I would listen to Roosevelt’s speeches on the radio. He would cover one topic and issue position papers, so I knew exactly where he stood. Who issued a position paper in this election? Where did the candidates really stand?

What are you hoping will change, and how?

I’m hoping that we start to address the national debt. I hope we come up with a sane policy for medical care for people, and that we come up with sane environmental policies. In the latest policy issued by the Environmental Protection Agency, water, even water on a farm can be controlled by the EPA. We’ve become almost a police state when it comes to regulations. When I was in the Pentagon I learned what happens with regulators—that the regulations begin to dominate us more than the original bill. Many regulations are very restrictive and haven’t improved our quality of life at all.

I’d also like to see us recognize our international responsibilities. When President Roosevelt sent the Great White Fleet around the world in the early 1900s we assumed the mantel of responsibility that had previously belonged to the British Empire. We dropped it after WWI and became isolationist, reducing both the Army and the Navy. With the bombing of Pearl Harbor in WWII we had no choice, and we had to get involved on an international level again. We maintained our role through Vietnam, Iran and Iraq, though those were minor compared to WWII.  Somebody has to arbitrate in the world. Now it will be either us or China.

What would you like people who did not vote for Donald Trump to understand?

First of all, I’d like them to understand that we are a republic. We are fortunate that we have the electoral college, otherwise we’d be ruled by California and New York.

If someone from another party would make the changes you want, would you consider voting for him/her?

No. This is a republic. The founders decided early on that we were going to have two parties. Hamilton was a Federalist and Jefferson advocated for a weaker central government, and our history has followed in that vein until today. Minor parties have started up but never overshadowed the two main parties.

Where do you get your health insurance?

Medicare. I think it’s great, especially at my age. I don’t want it eliminated. Even though I have a good retirement income, I couldn’t afford medical care without it. I spent a few days in the hospital with a terrible flu. My bill was $15,000, but with Medicare my part was less than $5,000, which Medicare covered.

What do you think about the anti-Trump demonstrations that are occurring?

I respect people’s right to demonstrate. In the 1960s I taught courses for the police and the military on how to handle demonstrations without shooting people. One thing I’m amazed at is the people crying over the election. My military friends and I see kids on college campuses crying and having safe rooms, and we wonder how could they fight a war? How could they make tough decisions? I didn’t like it when Barack Obama was elected president, but I didn’t cry about it.

Do you think hate crimes have increased? If so, what do you think about that?

I don’t have any gauge on that at all. There has always been a certain amount of hatred. I think some people commit violent acts against other people out of hatred, some do it because of the notoriety and some do it just because they see it as the thing to do.

Do you find any common ground with your friends/relatives who voted differently from you?

I’m sure I have some relatives who have different political views than I do, but I never discuss politics or religion with relatives.