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Last night I was appalled to see President Trump give a campaign speech from the south lawn of the White House. It’s still bothering me today.
In America we pledge allegiance to our flag, we hold up our ideals, and we cherish our institutions. We respect our presidents, but we don’t conflate them with our nation.
In making his argument for re-election using the White House as a backdrop, Donald Trump is attempting to do just that. It’s his way of saying, “L'état, c'est moi.”
The political pendulum swings. Policies can change. But blurring the lines between one’s personal interests and the symbols of our nation does irreparable damage by equating peoples’ esteem for individual politicians with these totems that should be above partisan bickering.
We cannot let any one person lower the reverence Americans have for our institutions by claiming these institutions for their personal benefit.
I went back through my files to look for correspondence I received from presidents George H. W. Bush and Barack Obama to remind myself of what the office of the presidency has been and can be again. We won’t all agree on every single policy prescription.
But presidents can unite all Americans around notions of service. They can inspire us to be better and that we have a responsibility to complete the work of our founders of perfecting our union. I’m looking forward to having a president capable of that again.
