Stuckenberg, a decorated and highly-educated military consultant, said he felt an urgency to run after a conversation with his son on Sept. 11.

“I asked my son who is 18 years old, and 911 was before his time, if he knew the story,” he said.

Over yard work Stuckenberg told of a man named John O’Neill, who knew that the World Trade Centers would be attacked a second time, the first being the unsuccessful attack in 1993. O’Neill asked the government for the resources to stop a second attack. It was refused. So, Stuckenberg told his son, instead of simply retiring, O’Neill got a job at the top of one of the towers.

“He climbed to the top of the World Trade Center and he stood for what was right and for what was just and what was true. And he stood as a sentry … And he died in the 9/11 attacks. So the question I asked my son Timothy while we were in the yard: What do you think he would say if he could come back and talk? And my son inspired me with his answer: ‘I think he would say never give up on the United States of America, no matter how small the chance of a turn around.'”

Stuckenberg said: “We have to do three things immediately and these are the three points of my campaign.

“We have to immediately cut taxes that are choking and strangling the economy around the United States. Every man, woman and child’s buying power is being reduced to ashes. … Furthermore, I’m going to eliminate the inheritance tax because it’s immoral to save your whole life and to pass on an inheritance to your heirs and have the government take more than half of it.

To halt unchecked immigration, he wants to use the “military (under Title 32) to close our borders to stop the influx; provide illegals already here a 60-day period to register, undergo a health screening, and a background check. They may register with NGO and victim advocates or any post-office.

“These steps will add an estimated 8 to 10 million people to the U.S. tax base. Set people free from trafficking and slavery. And rise to a better version of ourselves to care for and help those in need,” his website says.

With an even greater urgency, Stuckenberg talked about the U.S.’s standing when it comes to national security, particularly with its relationship with China.

“We have not had a war game that we have been successful in defeating China since 2008, and yet we continue to do the same thing and get the same result. We can turn that script around. We can flip that script. We know how to beat them, but even now, on one more strategy that happened to come out this year that I had my hands on and that I have shaped, my hands have shaped. I’m the guy who shared in 2015, balloons will be used to access the United States, and here’s how and no one listened, and then it happened.”

Early in the interview Stuckenberg said, “I am not a politician. I am considered one of America’s premier national security strategists. I am the deputy director of strategy at the Texas National Guard, which is our foremost reserve component in the country …

“I’m here on my own as a citizen because I believe our Republic is fading very fast. I believe we’re approaching a tipping point described by Edward Gibbon, who is an author who wrote in the 1700s about the decline and the fall of the Roman Empire,” he said.

“And so the economy, stopping illegal immigration and finally having a national security enterprise that is second to none in the world,” he said, reiterating his three priorities.

Maj. Stuckenberg is acting director of strategic plans at Texas Air National Guard, Camp Mabry, Austin, Texas. He co-founded Genesis Systems, a global greentech company solving global water scarcity with renewables. He holds a doctorate in international security from King’s College; a master’s in politics from George Washington University; and a Bachelor of Science in technology from University of Central Missouri. He is also a husband and father of five children.

“So we are living in a historic time, a time of choosing and we have all of the capability and a sound constitution that is an inspired document of goodness. And there is nothing wrong with it. And our politicians continue to try to build roads through it, around it, tunnel under it. It needs to be respected. It was inspired and brought together by people who understood that human nature progresses toward tyranny when you center power in one man. The temptation is too great for most humans.”

As he was leaving, he said his favorite president was the first, Gen. George Washington, because he declined to take on an unwholesome level of power.

He does not see former President Donald Trump as a good way forward.

“Remember, and I hope it will make it into your article, but remember how to tell the difference between right and wrong and good and evil. … If it’s bringing things into order. If it’s organizing the chaos.”