The behavior of the Republican candidates seeking the office of the presidency has been appalling. Their nationally displayed foolish and embarrassing comments and mannerisms diminished the office they seek.
The office in its operation and dignity personifies the American people, their hopes, values and ideals. The office is the product of one man, our country’s first president, George Washington, who spent eight years carefully shaping an office established somewhat vaguely by the Constitution.
Washington, in his careful behavior, created an office that has survived civil and world wars, and eventually, the war on terror. He was urged to choose a royal title – to be addressed as “His Excellency.” He refused. He was offered a coach in white with a crest on its doors. He refused. He was offered the presidency for life. He refused.
He saw himself as a citizen of the new United States and felt his duty was to preserve a new and precarious union and to strengthen the Constitution as the basis of our republican government. He always conducted himself with restraint, though he was vilified by Thomas Jefferson and others as senile and stupid.
Today, do we want a president with little or no understanding of how a democratic republic works? Or a candidate who threatens violence? Or a candidate who disparages the leadership of his own political party? Or one who willfully shuts down the operation of the federal government? Or one who refers to the nation as exclusively Christian?
Since when does the Senate need the approval of the NRA to accept or reject a presidential nominee for the Supreme Court? What happened to modern patriotism? Expressed and shared national goals? Respect for fellow citizens regardless of party affiliation? Where is the genuine love of country among these candidates?
Could any of them perform the duties required of the presidency in the manner of our first president? How much moral authority and public respect could either of the two leading Republican candidates garner from the American public?
Donald J. D’Amato
South Hadley