As families across the nation gather for Thanksgiving, many will engage in the ritual of having everyone at the table say two or three things for which they are thankful. First on everyone’s list, usually, is good health — personally and nationally — followed by family, friends, bountiful food, clothing, shelter, vacations, the dog, etc.
This year, I plan to say I am thankful we live in a country where we can have robust political debates, disagree vigorously on a lot of issues, but remain respectful and civil to one another.
I will also point out that 55 years ago today, the United States was changed forever when we lost our president to an assassin’s bullet.
As a country, we have never been quite the same since. What happened in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, made us think differently about the presidency institutionally and the president as a person. Whether one supported John F. Kennedy or not, there was a collective sense of outrage by the idea that our legitimately elected leader could be gunned down in broad daylight on the streets of a major American city. And there was overwhelming sadness as we watched his grieving widow and innocent young children say goodbye to a husband and father, and face a life no one could have imagined.
The Kennedy assassination redefined our relationship with our president. The intimacy of television — something not present when previous presidents were assassinated — made the event personal for everyone who tuned in. The chief executive emerged from movie theater newsreels, magazines, and newspaper photos and became a real human being. As angry as we were by what happened 55 years ago today, we recovered, of course, because America is strong. No one person, man or woman, no matter how revered, defines us. A new president took office, and life went on.
Yet something about our country changed that day. It’s impossible to know for sure what that is, but here’s a guess: We developed an attachment — a relationship, of sorts — with the president, and developed a deep reverence for the office of the presidency, something that has been a defining national characteristic ever since. Simply put, we look to the president to be an example of how to behave.
That’s why the current political environment is so troubling. While he grades his own performance at an “A-plus” level, there is a growing sense that President Trump does not embody the best of the American spirit. It would be unfair, of course, to expect Donald Trump to be someone he is not, but it is reasonable to expect him to exemplify the greatest characteristics of our country.
To some, the fact that Mr. Trump lives and works where Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy, and Reagan did, is a source of great consternation. To others, it is a source of satisfaction, perhaps even vindication. Such is America. We elect presidents for a variety of reasons: to undo a predecessor’s work, to end wars, to fix broken economies, to advance political agendas, to settle scores, and to make statements. Whatever we seek in a president, we expect that he (and someday she) will embody what makes our country special — dare I say exceptional?
There is a lot to like and dislike about Mr. Trump. On the plus side, he tells you exactly what he thinks, answers lots of questions from the press, works hard to keep his campaign promises, and tirelessly advocates for American dominance. On the other hand, however, he can be very thin-skinned, self-aggrandizing, intolerant of disagreement, and divisive.
Some have suggested that Mr. Trump’s divisiveness — his tendency to pit one group against another — is his greatest fault as president. I disagree. As romantic as the notion of a “united” country may be, it is unrealistic. Since our very founding, we have been a divided country, with good and decent people holding opposite opinions on critical issues. Dissension is part of who we are. That’s a good thing. History has shown that when nearly everyone in a country thinks along the same lines, bad things can happen.
In America, there are some gaps that will never be bridged. Abortion, same-sex marriage, capital punishment, and gun control, for example, are among many issues on which common ground will likely never be found. And that’s okay, as long as we respect and do not demonize those with whom we disagree, and as long as we have a civil discussion.
Some have said that the role of the president is to “unify” the nation, whatever that means. Not so. Trump has no obligation to “bring us together” per se. As a practical matter, he can’t. But what he does have is an obligation to set a tone of tolerance and magnanimity of spirit in our political discourse. His unwillingness or inability to do so thus far is his greatest failure as president.
It has been suggested that the United States is suffering from a nervous breakdown. But it’s really more like we have an autoimmune disease, whereby the body politic is attacking itself. That may be inherent in democracies. Yet, while autoimmune diseases are notoriously difficult to cure, they can often be managed and made inactive.
Donald Trump is a businessman, not a doctor. While he was not elected to be physician in chief, as president he has the unique ability — and indeed, the obligation — to quiet things down and help us get to a point where we can function without the dangerous flare-ups that lead to bad outcomes. He can manage and make inactive the current toxic environment. To accomplish that, he needs to engage in less criticism (name-calling) of opponents, be more open to different points of view, graciously submit to sometimes inappropriately aggressive questioning from the constitutionally protected press, and set a tone that welcomes rather than rejects points of view that differ from his.
If he does that — and I have no doubt he can if he wants to — Donald Trump will rightfully be credited with restoring the nation to the good health of which we will speak on Thanksgiving. And if so he will join Kennedy, Jefferson, Roosevelt, Lincoln, Truman, and Reagan in the ranks of truly great presidents. That will make him an A-plus president for sure.
Mark Weinberg served as special assistant to the president and assistant press secretary in the Reagan White House, and as director of public affairs in the office of former President Ronald Reagan. He is the author of the recently published Movie Nights with the Reagans (Simon & Schuster).
