A new book titled “In the President’s Secret Service” raises a number of questions that should be of concern to all Americans. The author is Ronald Kessler, who has written extensively on the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency, behind-the-scenes happenings in Congress, the White House and foreign intelligence efforts against the United States.

An individual with close ties to numerous U.S. presidents and vice presidents and who is close to the Washington intelligence community told this writer that Kessler is “very well connected,” that he “respects confidences and therefore is able to gain information others are denied” and that he is “accurate.”

As noted above, Kessler’s book raises many troubling issues.

One deals with the character and values of many elected in recent years to the highest office in this country and the men who head the world’s most powerful nation.

It would seem anyone in this position should be an individual who, by his personal behavior, private life and values, sets a standard for others to value, emulate and admire.

Unfortunately, according to Kessler, this has not been the case with recent presidents such as John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson and Vice President Spiro Agnew in their sexual activities; Jimmy Carter in his deceptive efforts to project a public image far different from his private life; and many unflattering profiles of Richard Nixon and spouses of numerous presidents.

Kessler quotes Dr. Bertram S. Brown, a psychiatrist who once headed the National Institute of Mental Health and was aide to President Kennedy. He said, “The White House is a character crucible. It either creates or distorts character. Few decent people want to subject themselves to the kind of grueling abuse candidates take when they run in the first place. Many of those who run crave superficial celebrity. They are hollow people who have no principles and simply want to be elected. Even if an individual is balanced, once someone becomes president, how does one solve the conundrum of staying real and somewhat humble when one is surrounded by the most powerful office in the land, and from becoming overwhelmed by an at times pathological environment that treats you every day as an emperor? Here is where the true strength of the character of the person, not his past accomplishments, will determine whether his presidency ends in accomplishment or failure.”

Dr. Brown, who has seen in his practice many top Washington politicians and White House aides, adds, “Thus, unless a president comes to the office with good character, the crushing force of the office and the adulation the chief executive receives will inevitably lead to disaster. For those reasons, the electorate has a right to know about the true character of its leaders.”

This raises the second concern exposed in the Kessler book.

Why doesn’t the media do a better job of reporting what goes on inside and outside the White House, as well as the actions and behavior of many in Congress? Why the cover-ups? Why didn’t the media report the sexual activities of JFK and Lyndon Johnson? Does being president allow them to behave any way they wish, knowing the media will look the other way? The same question applies to Senate and House members. Shouldn’t elected officials, our nation’s highest and most senior elected officials, be expected to behave in a proper manner?

Again, why doesn’t the media do a thorough, honest and accurate job of reporting the true character of these high officials, as well as other Washington leaders? Isn’t the manner in which these men operate in their private lives equally important as how they and their press agents make them appear in the public spotlight? Kessler comments on all presidents from JFK to Obama.

The other main concern exposed in the book is the question of whether the Secret Service is as able as the public assumes it to be, whether the Secret Services has adequate, not just minimal, support to carry out its mission and whether morale within the Secret Services is as marginal as Kessler reports.

Challenges facing the Secret Service today are far greater than in any recent time. According to Kessler, the threats against Obama are 400 percent greater than those against George W. Bush and yet, equipment and manpower to meet these challenges are not sufficient. In fact, Kessler claims the Secret Service is cutting corners in its protective efforts.

Aside from the question of whether the Secret Service is sufficiently funded to meet current demands and the question of character and how some of our presidents have carried on while in the White House, the main question is how Americans describe “character” and whether they think character and personal lifestyle are important for those in the White House and in Congress.

Unfortunately, character, good manners and personal conduct have been replaced by doing whatever it takes to win and, once in office, doing whatever one wishes to do.

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It was good to see Gov. Mark Parkinson speak out forcefully on the importance of Kansas University, Kansas State and Wichita State raising their academic rankings and national recognition.

The only disappointment, but not a surprise, was to read the reaction of some members of the Kansas Board of Regents to Parkinson’s challenge. They said the governor was right on target, that they supported his goal and that they, too, thought it was more important to be ranked nationally in the top 90 in academics than to be ranked nationally in the top 90 in football and basketball.

Why haven’t they expressed this desire and goal before, rather than waiting for the governor to speak out in this matter? If they were aware of what had been going on at KU in recent years, and perhaps at KSU and Wichita, they should have known KU was slipping behind its peer institutions.

For far too long, the regents have relied on university leaders and the regents staff to tell them “everything is fine” on the various campuses rather than investigating and finding out for themselves the true conditions and morale on the campuses.

Hopefully, Parkinson’s message will get results. In past years, a number of regents were far more concerned and demanding about academic performance than current and recent regents.