The daily Astorian., February 15, 2016, Page 4A, Image 4

OPINION
4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016
President George Washington delivers his inaugural address in the Senate Chamber of Old Federal Hall in New York on April 30, 1789.
On Presidents Day, we celebrate the good ones
T
‘With malice toward none’
he cover of The New Yorker magazine some-
times carries the most biting political satire.
Recently the cover featured a group of former
presidents watching the image of Donald Trump
on a television monitor. George Washington’s
hand covered his mouth. Theodore Roosevelt and
Abraham Lincoln were aghast.
The value of Presidents Day — beyond its sales
— lies in its acknowledgment that some greatness has
occupied that of¿ce.
Presidential biographers will tell you there are Àaws
in all of their subjects. But at certain moments, when the
chips were down — such as the nation’s birth, the Civil
War, World War II — the right leader showed up to meet
the enormous challenge.
While the scourge of Islamic terrorism threatens
America, the abiding enemy of a large share of Ameri-
cans is change — economic and cultural — that threatens
livelihoods and personal values. In the face of that, it is
not clear that some of the presidential front-runners have
a program of substance. They are winning by channeling
the anger and fear of the disaffected voters.
But that is not leadership. And that is what makes this
a dispiriting campaign season that ¿nds many of us suffer-
ing voter fatigue nine months prior to November’s Elec-
tion Day.
Disappointment with this year’s leading candidates is
disappointment with our times as much as it is about the
people in question. As Garry Wills notes, one cannot under-
stand George Washington without grasping the Enlighten-
ment, which produced him. If that era was de¿ned by a set
of shared values, our era is one of dissonance. The reality of
America’s increasingly divergent values is a phenomenon
that is driving our politics in . Good luck ¿nding a pres-
ident who epitomizes America at this moment.
I
t is worth remembering that Americans are nearly
always dissatis¿ed with our presidents and that we nev-
ertheless prosper in ways far beyond our founders’ wild-
est imaginings.
Washington, unique in American history for winning
his two terms with unanimous votes by the Electoral Col-
lege, was widely ridiculed and disliked at the end of his
presidency.
He faced an armed uprising in 1791. Some blamed
The conclusion of President Abraham Lincoln’s second Inaugural
Address, delivered March 4, 1865.
Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge
of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it might continue
until all the wealth piled by the bondsman’s two hundred and ¿fty years
of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with
the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three
thousand years ago, so still it must be said “the judgments of the Lord are
true and righteous altogether.”
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with ¿rmness in the
right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to ¿nish the work
we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall
have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all
which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among our-
selves and with all nations.
— Abe Lincoln
Good luck finding
a president who
epitomizes America
at this moment.
his policies for economic disruptions in the nation’s
early years. Washington was a slave owner. He sided
with Alexander Hamilton vs. Thomas Jefferson, a con-
Àict that gave rise to continuing ripples of political parti-
sanship that still trouble us today.
Despite his imperfections, with the wisdom of time
and a degree of looking backward with rose-tinted
glasses, Washington is now justly celebrated for having
done most things right.
As the Miller Center at the University of Virginia
notes, “he tolerated dissent, vicious attacks on his repu-
tation and name, and a divisive press — all in the interest
of freedom. There is little reason to suggest that Wash-
ington, unlike so many of his successors, ever sought to
use his of¿ce for personal empowerment or gain. Nei-
ther did he shelter his friends for the sake of their friend-
ships when conÀicts of interest arose.
“Perhaps most importantly, Washington’s presiden-
tial restraint, solemnity, judiciousness, and nonpartisan
stance created an image of presidential greatness, or dig-
nity, that dominates the of¿ce even today. He was the
man who could have been a king but refused a crown
and saved a republic.”
The men including Washington who crafted our sys-
tem of government understood and explicitly dealt with
concerns that presidents could become too important. It
is inevitable the top elected job in a great nation becomes
the focus for blame and credit. But in the U.S. system
of government, the president is a public employee, not
the personi¿cation of the nation, as was the case in the
European monarchy we left behind. The presidency is
important but our nation is in¿nitely more so.
Presidents Day is good time to celebrate the good
ones, who manage to govern in ways that promote peace
and prosperity. But it’s also an opportunity to thank even
the mediocre ones, who often sacri¿ce health and repu-
tation in efforts to serve the country.
Finally, Presidents Day is a good symbol for the fact
that they are only small parts of who we as a nation —
we give 1/366th of 2016 to honoring them, and many of
the remaining days to thinking little of them. This is as
it should be.
I miss President Barack Obama’s style
By DAVID BROOKS
New York Times News Service
A
s this primary season has
gone along, a strange sen-
sation has come over me: I miss
Barack Obama.
Now, obviously I disagree with a
lot of Obama’s policy decisions.
I’ve been disappointed by aspects
of his presidency. I hope the next presi-
dency is a philosophic departure.
But over the course of this campaign
it feels as if there’s been a decline in
behavioral standards across the board.
Many of the traits of character and lead-
ership that Obama possesses, and that
maybe we have taken too much for
granted, have suddenly gone missing or
are in short supply.
The ¿rst and most important of these
is basic integrity. The Obama admin-
istration has been remarkably scan-
dal-free. Think of the way Iran-Contra
or the Lewinsky scandals swallowed
years from Reagan and Clinton.
We’ve had very little of that from
Obama. He and his staff have gener-
ally behaved with basic rectitude. Hil-
Imagine if Barack and
lary Clinton is constantly
Michelle Obama joined the
having to hold these defen-
board of a charity you’re
sive press conferences when
involved in. You’d be happy
she’s trying to explain away
to have such people in your
some vaguely shady short-
community. Could you say
cut she’s taken, or decision
that comfortably about Ted
she has made, but Obama
Cruz? The quality of a presi-
has not had to do that.
dent’s humanity Àows out in
He and his wife have
the unexpected but import-
not only displayed superior
ant moments.
integrity themselves, they
David
Third, a soundness in
have mostly attracted and
Brooks
his decision-making pro-
hired people with high per-
sonal standards. There are all sorts of cess. Over the years I have spoken to
unsightly characters Àoating around many members of this administration
politics, including in the Clinton camp who were disappointed that the presi-
and in Gov. Chris Christie’s administra- dent didn’t take their advice. But those
tion. This sort has been blocked from disappointed staffers almost always felt
that their views had been considered in
team Obama.
Second, a sense of basic human- depth.
Obama’s basic approach is to pro-
ity. Donald Trump has spent much of
this campaign vowing to block Mus- mote his values as much as he can within
lim immigration. You can only say that the limits of the situation. Bernie Sand-
if you treat Muslim Americans as an ers, by contrast, has been so blinded by
abstraction. Obama, meanwhile, went his values that the reality of the situation
to a mosque, looked into people’s eyes does not seem to penetrate his mind.
Take health care. Passing
and gave a wonderful speech reassert-
Obamacare was a mighty lift that led to
ing their place as Americans.
He’s exuded this basic care and two gigantic midterm election defeats.
respect for the dignity of others time As Megan McArdle pointed out in her
and time again. Let’s put it this way: Bloomberg View column, Obamacare
took coverage away from only a small
minority of Americans. Sanderscare
would take employer coverage away
from tens of millions of satis¿ed cus-
tomers, destroy the health insurance
business and levy massive new tax
hikes. This is epic social disruption.
To think you could pass Sanderscare
through a polarized Washington and in
a country deeply suspicious of gov-
ernment is to live in intellectual fairy-
land. Obama may have been too cau-
tious, especially in the Middle East, but
at least he’s able to grasp the reality of
the situation.
Fourth, grace under pressure. I hap-
pen to ¿nd it charming that Marco
Rubio gets nervous on the big occa-
sions — that he grabs for the bottle of
water, breaks out in a sweat and went
robotic in the last debate. It shows
Rubio is a normal person. And I hap-
pen to think overcon¿dence is one of
Obama’s great Àaws. But a president
has to maintain equipoise under enor-
mous pressure. Obama has done that,
especially amid the ¿nancial crisis.
After Saturday night, this is now an
open question about Rubio.
Fifth, a resilient sense of optimism.
To hear Sanders or Trump, Cruz and
The Obama
administration
has been
remarkably
scandal-free.
Ben Carson campaign is to wallow in
the pornography of pessimism, to con-
clude that this country is on the verge
of complete collapse. That’s simply
not true. We have problems, but they
are less serious than those faced by just
about any other nation on earth.
People are motivated to make wise
choices more by hope and opportu-
nity than by fear, cynicism, hatred and
despair. Unlike many current candi-
dates, Obama has not appealed to those
passions.
No, Obama has not been tempera-
mentally perfect. Too often he’s been
disdainful, aloof, resentful and insular.
But there is a tone of ugliness creeping
across the world, as democracies retreat,
as tribalism mounts, as suspiciousness
and authoritarianism take center stage.
Obama radiates an ethos of integ-
rity, humanity, good manners and ele-
gance that I’m beginning to miss, and
that I suspect we will all miss a bit,
regardless of who replaces him.
STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher • LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor
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