Nation’s History Shows United Beliefs

Opinion

Reading through our nation’s history from about 50 years ago, it made me feel that our country better handled problems and challenges of those times than our current leaders are doing. It seemed that our nation was more united for the common good during those earlier days.

For example, in 1974, the Supreme Court ruled in the United States v. Nixon case that “the president cannot shield himself from producing evidence in a criminal prosecution based on the doctrine of executive privilege, although it is valid in other situations.”

The Court unanimously found that a qualified privilege existed while the president is in office, but it could not extend to all circumstances and especially not to those in which serious wrongdoing was convincingly alleged. I don’t believe that at the time there was a great national debate or battle about the decision. Just two weeks later, Nixon resigned from office.

But I believe that the Supreme Court was more respected during those years. Perhaps it was because both Republican and Democratic presidents appointed more non-political justices. For example, Nixon, a Republican, appointed four Supreme Court justices. There were few or any heated battles over their appointments. Of those four, three voted in favor of Roe v. Wade that protected the right of women to have abortions. One of the justices that Nixon appointed came to be regarded as one of the most liberal justices on the court. It was a time of compromise and working together.

The belief of doing what’s best for the country was displayed by Nixon even years earlier. Nixon lost the 1960 presidential election to John Kennedy in a very close vote. Kennedy won Illinois by only 9,000 votes and Texas by only 46,000 votes. If those results were reversed, Nixon had more electoral college votes. Despite some party leaders urging him to contest the race, Nixon said, “Our country cannot afford the agony of a constitutional crisis.”

Although Nixon certainly had his flaws down the line, his actions and the work of many of his contemporaries should be admired for putting the nation first. I sometimes wonder if that’s the goal of our current politicians.

Moving forward to the year when Ronald Reagan was president in the 1980s, it was known that he and then Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill, a Democrat, would spent many social hours together. Those two legendary figures would fight like dogs about many policies, but they were always friends “after 6 p.m.”

I’m hoping that after all the current elections are over and the votes are counted, our nation can once again be united and establish shared goals. I feel the future of our country depends on bipartisan work. It’s probably too much to ask, but I hope our national leaders can all be friends “after 6 p.m.” again.