I go down the list of presidents in my lifetime: Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump. Each of them faced a national crisis, and each rose to the occasion to unite the nation, to help ease the pain, to speak for “we the people” as we struggle to “form a more perfect union.” Some of these men shared my values, some did not. But all of them knew history and understood the role of the presidency in the nation and in the world. All but one.
All knew that they were elected to represent all of the people of the United States – all but one. All were imperfect as each of us is imperfect but rose above their own limitations to comfort, console and lead the nation. All but one.
All struggled with the realities that power was divided among three separate branches of government, and some tried with varying degrees of success to gain more power for the executive branch. But each of them understood their obligation to honor the Constitution of the United States and those who carry out the responsibilities granted them by the Constitution. All but one.
All saw themselves as leaders of the free world, a power based on the respect they earned because of their adherence to the principles of this nation. All but one.
All would be ashamed to hear that it is the head of the German Democratic Republic, and not the president of the United States, who speaks out to condemn Nazis and what they stand for. All but one.
Is it necessary to provide examples? World War II, the Korean War, the Berlin Wall, Vietnam, the Challenger, Iraq, 9/11, the economy – and for every one of them, the constant thread of discrimination based on race, religion, gender, economic status. Some were better able than others to keep their eyes on the prize. But all knew that they were elected to represent all of the people. All but one.
We wring our hands and bear witness, but that is not enough. Paying attention is important, but so is taking action at the state, local and national level to make sure that we elect people who believe in the importance of our Constitution and who have learned from that which has gone before – our successes and our failures. Those who do not study history will be condemned to relive it.
Someone who did not know that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican, who did not realize that health care was complicated, who does not hesitate to speak because he forgets that he is speaking for the nation, who did not think about our fathers who died in the battles to defeat Nazism, who demeans and diminishes those who disagree with him, who cannot grasp the concept that the presidency is about us and not about him, can cause inestimable damage that will take years to undo.
Our Constitution created a republic “in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch.” As Benjamin Franklin so aptly prophesized, it will be ours, only if we can keep it. If we cannot, it is our fault.
(Marjorie Smith lives in Durham.)