By Morf Morford
Tacoma Daily Index

More than any other nation, perhaps in all of recorded human history, we in the United States of America, have a single leader, our president, who represents us, our values and our beliefs to the world, and in times of crisis, re-grounds us in our core foundational beliefs.

Our presidents are remembered and revered as much by their words as they are by their actions or policies.

From the very beginning, our presidents have sought to articulate what America is, what it stands for and why it matters and how, in many ways, the USA stands in a unique place in the world.

Mayors represent cities, members of congress represent their districts, but our president represents us all.

I’ll start at the beginning with Washington’s Farewell Address. This statement from America’s first president has long been recognized as a towering statement of American political purpose and has been read annually in the U.S. Congress as part of the national recognition of the first President’s birthday for over 100 years.

The Farewell Address (https://www.ushistory.org/documents/farewelladdress.htm) clearly embodies and clarifies the core beliefs that Washington hoped would continue to guide the nation.

United we stand, divided we fall

Most of all Washington stressed that the “national union” formed the bedrock of “collective and individual happiness” for U.S. citizens. As he explained, “The name of AMERICAN, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of PATRIOTISM, more than any appellation derived from local distinctions.”

Washington feared that local factors and divisive factions might be the source of petty differences that would destroy the nation. His defense of national unity lay not just in abstract ideals, but also in the pragmatic reality that union brought clear advantages to every region.

He warned against two major threats to the nation, the first one domestic and the other foreign, (and both far more threatening today) which in the mid-1790s increasingly seemed likely to combine.

First, Washington warned of “the baneful effects of the SPIRIT OF PARTY.”

To Washington, political parties were a deep and continuing threat to the health of the nation for they allowed “a small but artful and enterprising minority” to “put in the place of the delegated will of the Nation, the will of a party.”

The new nation of the United States struggled to find itself and its place among the more established nations of Europe (relations with Asian nations would come a century or so later) each hoping to draw the U.S. to its side.

Washington admonished the country “to steer clear of permanent Alliances.” Foreign nations, he explained, could not be trusted to do anything more than pursue their own interests when entering international treaties. Rather than expect “real favors from Nation to Nation,” Washington called for extending foreign “commercial relations” that could be mutually beneficial, while maintaining “as little political connection as possible.”

Neutrality was the intent, and independence was the goal, but in the world of economic and military “super powers” like Germany, France and Great Britain, this would never be easy.

In fact being a nation of integrity and independence would never be easy.

Challenges to us and to our presidents would only grow over time.

As our 19th President, Rutherford B. Hayes put it almost exactly a century later;

The real difficulty is with the vast wealth and power in the hands of the few and the unscrupulous who represent or control capital. Hundreds of laws of Congress and the state legislatures are in the interest of these men and against the interests of workingmen. These need to be exposed and repealed. All laws on corporations, on taxation, on trusts, wills, descent, and the like, need examination and extensive change. This is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people no longer. It is a government of corporations, by corporations, and for corporations. — How is this?

He went on to say; The development of a permanent aristocracy of inherited wealth should not be allowed.

No government, or even form of government is perfect of course, and the right to assemble and speak out in protest is guaranteed in the First Amendment.

We are not a government of aristocracy, dynasties or a ruling class. We are literally a government of the people, by the people, and for the people – or at least we aspire to be.

Theodore Roosevelt had this to say about the place of the president in the American political system –

The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else.

We, as individuals and as a nation have faced a variety of challenges, but as our first president implied, we can face them, and even prevail if we face them together and know that our enemy is not Americans with different views, backgrounds and experiences – in fact that is our greatest strength.

Across the political divides, one thing stands certain – we, as Americans share a core belief in liberty and justice for all.

And some of us even believe that these rights should not stop at our borders.

As President Barack Obama put it;

I do have an unyielding belief that all people yearn for certain things: the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed; confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of justice; government that is transparent and doesn’t steal from the people; the freedom to live as you choose. Those are not just American ideas, they are human rights, and that is why we will support them everywhere.

In 2020 we again have that privilege rare in human history, the opportunity to vote for our president.

Whether our chosen candidate wins or loses, he or she will represent our nation and will join a select roster of those chosen, not to be our king, but to be the ultimate public servant, elected by, and called to serve the immense and varied constituents of the USA.