Every American – Trump-lovers and -haters alike – should want his next White House chief of staff to be competent, tough, steady and honest. Every Republican should also want the new guy to be politically savvy, in order to advance conservative principles.

With those considerations in mind, we all should want Trump to choose David Bossie to replace the departing John Kelly. Bossie, the longtime president of the Citizens United conservative action group, was listed publicly Monday as one of five top contenders for the job, and he has all the characteristics needed to do it well.

I’m biased: I’ve known Bossie for a quarter-century now, and worked as his ally on Capitol Hill in the 1990s. But as a patriotic American, I value governing competence over personal alliances – and Bossie possesses that competence in great abundance.

Bossie first gained national notice as one of the chief Republican investigators into the myriad world of Clinton scandals. He got a reputation as a hard-nosed partisan – but what most of the liberal media didn’t like to report was that he was scrupulously honest and substantive. A vast number of conspiracy theories surrounded the Clintons, but Bossie was determined to separate wheat from chaff: If the story or the claim wasn’t provably factual, he wanted nothing to do with it, and if Bossie said something was indeed true, the congressmen for whom he worked could count on it entirely.

[Also read: Mark Meadows ended up on Trump's chief of staff short list without even speaking to him]

So too could the media, although they were loath to admit it. Even back at the height of the Clinton controversies, the Washington Post’s Lloyd Grove reported that Bossie, despite his partisan-brawler persona, had “developed an impressive reputation for honesty and accuracy among the mainstream press.” And Rep. Christopher Shays of Connecticut, one of the least conservative and least partisan Republicans in the House, expressed great admiration for Bossie’s character and effectiveness. Even the Democrats’ chief counsel, Richard Ben-Veniste, said “I like him. He is refreshingly candid.”

Unlike Kelly, a former general, Bossie also has a well-honed political sense. And, as a solid conservative who understands policy and politics, he would work assiduously to enact the president’s agenda with a tough, non-nonsense approach that serves both the president and the country well.

Indeed, according to numerous insider campaign accounts, it was Bossie more than anyone who insisted, absolutely insisted, that the Trump campaign devote time and resources in the final 10 days to the old “Rust Belt” states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin and Michigan. He said, against the naysayers, that the billionaire could win those states and, with them, the presidency. Bossie was right. He has a good feel for “middle America.” He served for years as a volunteer firefighter, living in the firehouse, responding to hundreds upon hundreds of emergency calls. When it comes to understanding how the rest of America “outside the Beltway” lives, Bossie “gets it.”

Again, all Americans should want their White House to be run well. Country comes before partisanship or personalities. If Bossie is running the White House ship for Trump, it will be a proverbial “tight ship,” focused and efficient. For America’s sake, let’s hope he is given the chance.