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A review of the history of the American presidency reinforces the clichéd but sometimes contested notion that personal integrity determines whether the office will be elevated or diminished. George Washington had that integrity, the two Adamses had it, Lincoln had it,
Ike had it, Trump did not. Character above all else, especially a sense of humility about one’s own potential and the potential of the office they hold, is a vital characteristic for healthy republican statesmanship --along with an awareness that they are merely temporary
inhabitants of the presidency and of life on earth. What will follow in Donald Trump’s wake remains to be seen, but if history is any guide, he could eventually be followed by Trump squared. But this is not inevitable.
The nation would do well to return to the constitutional presidency proposed and enacted by George Washington, a presidency of sober expectations designed to serve as a unifying head of state rather than a partisan rabble rouser. The odds are against recovering
the lost soul of the American presidency. But it is possible that a civically starved body politic may yearn for an American president who acts as some of his or her dignified forbears did, drawing enough support to steady the ship of state.
