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The polls warn that most Americans view this year’s presidential election with looming dread. It’s more important than ever, then, to take a moment on Presidents’ Day and reflect on the importance of the office. The presidency transcends any one occupant of the Oval Office. It embodies the hopes and aspirations of a nation founded on the principles of liberty, justice and equality.
Constitutionally, the president is an executive who wields power far short of a hereditary monarch. He — and hopefully someday soon she — enforces the laws of the land, negotiates treaties and serves as commander in chief of the armed forces. More recently and further removed from constitutional roots, the president and the administration enact policies by executive order within the constraints of what Congress has broadly authorized and what the courts have upheld.
Alexander Hamilton likened the president to a state governor. “It would be difficult to determine whether [the president] would, in the aggregate, possess more or less power than the governor of New York,” he wrote under the pen name Publius in the Federalist Papers.
But even if the president’s literal power is limited, his or her power to inspire the people is unbounded. The president should stand for decency, maturity, unity and resiliency in times of adversity. Ego and corrupt special interests motivated some presidents, but the best put aside personal aggrandizement and plutocratic backers to strive for the common good in a diverse and dynamic nation. They eschew partisanship and conduct themselves with dignity and humility.
Successful presidents — and former presidents — work toward solutions. They don’t urge sycophantic followers to resist legislative compromise because a border crisis or other problem serves their political ends.
Dissatisfaction with this year’s likely presidential candidates can be misleading. Republicans by and large like former President Donald Trump, polls report. Democrats by and large like President Joe Biden. Independents are as cantankerous as ever. Neither likely would be confused for a Washington, Jefferson or Lincoln, but the two major-party standard-bearers offer starkly different visions.
The nation stands at a critical juncture for the future this Presidents’ Day and this election year. Americans can reaffirm their commitment to the principles that guided great presidents of the past, or they can choose the bitterness and discord that drives people apart.
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