Politicians With Integrity Are They Extinct?

  My daughter is writing an essay on integrity. I thought that was an interesting assignment so I took the chance to look up the definition for integrity what I found was quite interesting. Integrity is the quality of being honest. Another definition is having good moral principals. Another definition says, being  up right. The last definition I found for integrity said this, a state of being whole or undivided.
  As I looked at the definition of integrity I began to wonder if any politician in America today,  had integrity. I must confess to you I am still wondering. I often wonder if many in America today have integrity. You know there was a time in this country when you didn't have to have everything written down in a solid binding contract. There was a time in this country when a hand shake was all that was needed. I remember this about my father if he gave you his word it was as good as money in the bank and you could bank on it! These days as I consider politicians in America today I just don't no what to believe. I mean think about it! Right now,  we are in the primary season we have four GOP presidential candidates who have all to some extent distorted misled   and in some cases just plain lied about their opponents and then at the end of this malicious contest one of them will turn to the American people and ask them to trust him but if one politician will lie about another opponent just to win a primary there is nothing to indicate that he won't lie to the American people.
  I wonder if America,  has any integrity? Remember I said on definition of integrity carried with it the idea of being whole or undivided.I have to tell you if there was ever a time in history where a country was more morally,  spiritually,  socially,  and economically divided it is America,  today. What really troubles me is that many in America today,  have basically excepted this as normal. I talked to a person the other day who told me he expected all politicians to lie to him because that was the so called American way. I then told him not where I come from. You see where I come from I was taught that integrity was more than just a definition in a dictionary. I was taught that if  one was a person of integrity it was more than just doing the right thing or telling the truth. Where I come from if you say you have integrity it means you strive to do that which is right just because it is right not just for what you may or may not get out of it. Where I come from I was taught that a person who had true integrity would do the right thing even if it meant they might suffer some type of loss. I wonder how many politicians would do the right thing if they thought they could win an election more easily from doing the wrong thing? Integrity is more than what a person says or does it is in a very real sense who a person is. The people who knew my father and did business with him knew he could be trusted because his word was as good as his name. I strive to live in such a way that the same can be said of me. I don't know if America,  has any politicians with true intergrity or not. I do know this however,  if a person canot be true to themselves, they can not be true to any one. As always, my friends, these words remain, just, some words, to think on.