This nation is in crisis!  A terrible virus continues, largely unabated and expected to grow in the future, our economy is tanking with little immediate hope of revival, and now our cities are aflame and facing a police-state shutdown.

Yet, the one person who could be in position to lead us through this crisis is offering nothing but petty vindictiveness and childish taunting.  President Donald J. Trump has failed us miserably.

Just look at how he responded to the devastation in Minneapolis and St. Paul; rather than offering help and words of hope to the citizens of those two great cities, he chose to blame the strife on “Democrat” mayors.  Then, he personally took credit for the presence of National Guard troops entering the cities to clean up the chaos, an action that he only had peripheral involvement, if any.

As the chaos spread throughout the nation in cities large and small, President Trump ratcheted up the rhetoric, calling upon governors and mayorss to “dominate” and use force if necessary to quell the protests.  As he spoke on June 1 from the Rose Garden, protesters gathered outside the White House gates; all was peaceful until police and accompanying troops moved in to move the crowd out so he could march across the street to stand in front of historic St. John’s Episcopal Church holding a Bible for a photo op.  His only real purpose, we’re certain, was political to appeal to his Evangelistic base.

Also, during his five-minute remarks in the Rose Garden, he snuck in a statement that federal troops would be protecting Second Amendment Rights.  Again, a political appeal to his gun nut supporters.  Note, he didn’t mention the First Amendment, the amendment that is the very foundation of our democracy.

At this time, what we all need is a President who can use his commanding presence to heal our divisions and summon our resolve to remedy our current distressing issues.

That’s what presidents have done in the past.

Trump likes to compare himself with Abraham Lincoln, claiming that both men faced a hostile press, and that he (Trump) might even be treated worse than the Great Emancipator.  Trump has even gone so far as to suggests he’s the greatest President in history.  In a 2018 interview with Author Bob Woodward, he said, “nobody’s ever done a better job than I’m doing as president.”  How totally laughable!  It’s hardly worth a comment, except to remind us that Lincoln responded with compassion in seeking peace in the midst of strife.  

In the midst our current combined crises, Trump could well take a lesson from how Lincoln looked to heal the wounds of the Civil War. 

In his Second Inaugural Address in 1865 as the Civil War was nearing an end, Lincoln spoke with great understanding and compassion: “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish 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 ourselves and with all nations.”

Taking office after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, President Lyndon B. Johnson, from historically pro-slavery Texas, led the country to pass the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Act.  When confronted with the 1967 race riots, he responded by establishing the Kerner Commission that sought solutions to the underlying problems that cause such disturbances.

Even some presidents who may not be regarded as particularly strong have risen during crises to summon the best from the nation.  After Sept. 11, 2001, George W. Bush spoke eloquently from the ashes of the World Trade Center to bring reassurance to the American people.  Though his subsequent decisions to engage us in Iraq were disastrous, Bush’s words sought to heal, not divide.

Dwight Eisenhower – a great general, but never credited with being a strong President – responded by bringing in federal troops to enforce school desegregation orders in Little Rock, Arkansas, even though such action were unpopular among many of his supporters. 

There are other examples where Presidents sought to heal – not divide – but Donald J. Trump’s own self-centered desires prevents him from setting the kind of example required of leaders.  And, the country suffers and may descend deeper into the abyss of hatred and despair.

Yet, there’s hope, and it lies with the governors, mayors and other officials, including police chiefs to provide the leadership needed to bring us together.  Many are doing just that; and it lies in each of us to encourage such leadership. – Ken Germanson, June 2, 2020