negation again, and coordination too

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>(1) ...a decision no president would ask for, but must be prepared to
>make.
>
>(2) ...a decision any president wouldn't ask for, but must be prepared
>to make.
>
>(3) ...a decision no president would ask for, but any president must be
>prepared to make.
>
>(that would have been my choice), but (3) is longer than the
>alternatives, and the repeated "president" puts a lot of weight on the
>presidency, when the speechwriters probably wanted to keep the decision
>in the foreground, so they went for (1).
>
>but how do others judge (1)?  especially with respect to (2).

I see (1) as natural (but wrong), (2) as unnatural (and wrong), (3) as OK
(maybe a little clumsy).

-- Doug Wilson