On my first trips to Latin America nearing 25 years ago, I always made a point of visiting capital cities and whenever possible, their seat of government and occasionally the residence of their President or Prime Minister.
I was often saddened on those tours, to see many of those government buildings, and almost always the President’s residence surrounded by high walls, tall iron fencing, and typically concertina razor wire on top. It saddened me that these republics were faced with such internal threats and fears regarding their comparatively fragile democracies.
I went to Washington in January of 2001 and 2005, for both Inaugurations of President George W. Bush. I combined business travel with covering the two Inaugural ceremonies and celebrations...from the traditional transition breakfast at the White House, through the parades, swearing-in, and the evening balls. The 2000 contest, much like 2020 was close and hard-fought, ending in a tense, over-time recount in the state of Florida.
Then Texas Governor George Bush appeared to have handily won his brother’s home state (Jeb Bush was then Florida’s Governor)...but as Election Night wore on...the contest there grew closer.
A concession call to George Bush was made by then Vice-President Al Gore, and then withdrawn. For 36 days, the nation’s eyes were riveted on recounts and related events across three Florida counties, which the Supreme Court of Florida in Tallahassee reviewed.
And though tensions were high among Bush and Gore supporters, I don’t remember hearing of any pressure applied, brother to brother or by the Bush campaign, to sway the outcome or to challenge the integrity of election officials in Tallahassee, Broward, Palm Beach, or Dade counties.
While the Florida Supremes would continue the recounts, the U.S. Supreme Court eventually intervened with a one-vote majority decision, awarding Florida’s electoral votes to George W. Bush, who would go on to win the Electoral College over Gore by five votes.
Bush’s victory in Florida was by only 536 votes, Gore had won the popular vote contest nationwide by more than half a million ballots. And yet somehow Vice-President Gore not only accepted that result, he presided over the Electoral College balloting in the U.S. Senate Chamber, as well as the declaration of his opponent, George W. Bush as the next President of the United States.
Soon after, on that brisk January 20th morning in 2001, the air was quite chilly at the Clinton White House, as the Bush family arrived for the handoff. Later on the Inaugural Stage at the Capitol, Vice-President Gore sat stone-faced only a few yards from the incoming President and watched his swearing-in.
Crane Covers Bush Inauguration- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrAM9ILWggs
No riots, no arm twisting, no martyr’s cry of a stolen election, no assaults on the integrity of multiple state Governors and election officials... What was different here? Two adults were in that contest, as well as on that Inaugural stage.
Many Democrats said that Bush was an illegitimate President and that he would never be fully accepted as having won the office outright. And then, something truly horrific did happen, early in year one of the first Bush Administration, the attacks of 9/11 would cripple our economy and paralyze much of the nation in fear, killing thousands in New York and Washington, D.C.
And thanks to the heroic efforts of passengers on United Airlines Flight 93, our nation’s Capitol Building and White House were spared attack and further destruction. In the following months, our nation pulled together, preparing for potential additional attacks from external enemies. Hopefully, it won’t take another 9/11 or outside threat to eventually heal the wounds we have more recently created and allowed to fester internally.
As both Al Gore and George Bush seemed to understand clearly, the office of President means more to the American people and the world than any singular occupant. In 1961, forty years before that contest, Vice-President Richard Nixon received strong evidence that ballots had been manipulated and fraudulently cast in the states of Illinois, Massachusetts and Texas, organized by the Kennedy campaign, with the assistance of the incoming President’s father, Joseph Kennedy.
Nixon’s supporters and advisors urged him to challenge the results of what was then one of the closest popular vote and Electoral College wins in our nation’s history, tipped by wins in the states of Illinois, Texas and Massachusetts.
Nixon declined, later publicly stating that the office of the Presidency and the American people’s faith in their election process mattered more than the outcome of any particular contest.
Sadly in more recent quests for power and victory, that high concept seems to have been forgotten.
As we look ahead to the fall Midterm Elections, economic turmoil and fluctuating energy markets due to the closure of the Straits of Hormuz—regardless of which ‘team’ you support—let’s remember the strength of this nation and the importance of placing trust in our Republic and the local and state officials who manage our election contests.
Who wins matters, but not at all costs.
And whichever side prevails does not mean the results were rigged or the contest stolen. And of course, there will always be the next election and the next opportunity.
Nixon would win the office on his next attempt in 1968. George W. Bush, whom some considered the “accidental” and illegitimate president, went on to a mandate re-election win in 2004. His checkered legacy in the Middle East and elsewhere also certainly looks much better in retrospect now.
I always pray for our Presidents. Their importance to our nation and the planet is simply too great not too, and despite my disagreements and reservations with his manner, I pray for this President now, even on those days when he so clearly does not deserve it.