America needs leaders Not a salesperson

Washington’s Nightmare

Thanks to Tom Nichols for this timely article on the history of our founder. President George Washington modeled the core principles of public service: Be a citizen, serve with integrity. Gracefully pass responsibility to the next citizen. The choice to pit Washington’s virtues against Donald’s nastiness. Trump is not only appropriate; But it should also serve as a reminder to all Americans.

Sadly, it seems that many Americans have lost touch with our history. I hope this changes. Before we find ourselves in a mad scramble to reclaim our more perfect harmony. Our patriots fought hard for our independence. Our ancestors died to preserve it. For nearly 250 years, we’ve been dedicated to getting it right.

Do we have any idea what we will lose?

Peter Brown
Lyman, Maine

I admire Tom Nichols’ writing and analysis. I teach courses on leadership and ethics at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service. I conducted a review of 44 peer-reviewed academic research articles that analyzed various aspects of of Trump’s leadership style My conclusion is that Trump has very limited leadership skills. He is a domineering thug who retaliates against anyone who challenges him. His moral decisions are based on self-interest. He lacks emotional intelligence. And his personality is defined by paranoia and victimhood. His main skills in influencing others are creating an attractive image and selling products. In times like this We need real leaders. Not a salesperson

Kenneth Williams
Chapel Hill, North Carolina

As I read the story “Washington’s Nightmare,” I went back and read historian Erica Armstrong Dunbar’s book. Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Hunt for Fugitive Slaves, Ona Judge– Dunbar’s book tells the story of a woman who was taken in by George and Martha. Washington was a slave Fleeing from the president’s residence in 1796, Washington pursued the judge until his death.

The articles and books create a paradox: I, too, celebrate Washington’s successes. his courage and devotion to the republic as well. But Tom’s treatment of the first president At times it gave me pause. Nichols devotes only one passage – about 150 words – to the issue of Washington and slavery. I understand his larger interest is in Washington. “Set a standard of patriotic character for his successors” and not necessarily in the apparent opposition of Washington and the people he enslaved. But if one were to compare Washington’s morality with Trump’s, This conflict demands attention. We should not consider Ona Judge’s nightmare as she was relentlessly pursued by Washington for daring to claim what Washington had fought for: freedom, dignity, and certain unalienable rights. Kelly said that after becoming president Washington then returned home. When the Washingtonians returned to Mount Vernon What do their slaves think?

I appreciate Nichols’ assessment of Washington’s legacy, but this aspect deserves deeper engagement.

Kevin L. Cole
Sioux Falls, SD

Tom Nicholls replies:

Thank you to the many readers. Those of you who appreciate looking back at our first president. I found that the distance between George Washington and Donald Trump is almost too painful to understand Peter Brown raises the very real problem of poor historical literacy among Americans. But I suspect the bigger problem is that our politics have become moralistic and transactional. This is something that Washington would abhor and that education alone cannot fix. Perhaps Kenneth Williams gets closer to the goal by noting that Trump is, above all else, a product of a modern phenomenon. That is marketing.

I understand Kevin Cole’s objections about Washington and slavery. But not every thought and deliberation related to the first president should center on slavery. Washington rebelled against the important institutions of his day. That is a monarchy. and judge him from the 21st century because he has not corrected another serious wrong of the 18th century, which is considered unhistorical. And it may be a deviation from the example he offers us. In our current fight against totalitarianism

The end of judicial independence

Anne Applebaum writes in the October 2024 issue that one of America’s greatest achievements could disappear overnight.

Anne Applebaum offers an important warning that some Supreme Court justices appear loyal to President Donald Trump, not the Constitution. But their bad behavior doesn’t end there. Some of them are also loyal to the billionaire class.

Justice Samuel Alito went on a pricey fishing trip with billionaire Paul Singer, staying at a residence that charged more than $1,000 a night for a room. Alito later did not recuse himself from the related case. with the sponsor’s hedge fund Justice Clarence Thomas has not only received gifts and favors from multi-millionaires. Having taken at least 26 private jet trips, Thomas and Alito claim they did not know they were required to report these inconsequential gifts.

Something must be done to put an end to this. We need enforceable principles for the nation’s highest court.

Seth Whittner
Worcester, Massachusetts

I graduated from law school in 2010. At the time, I didn’t know it was a quiet break. When an event such as Roe v. Wade And its central argument seems unassailable. I was only 25 years old. I understood the teachings about the sanctity of the judiciary’s role in our legal system. I believed—I still believe—in the ethics of my profession. In the dignity of our Supreme Court and what they and their decisions symbolize. Respecting the tradition and analysis of talented scholars and referees over the years has been essential to my practice. But I wonder what young people sitting in constitutional law classes must think today when they witness the ugly, frayed edges of our democracy. What do these depressing and disappointing lessons mean for the future of legal practice?

Britlynn Mork
New York, New York

Behind the cover

In this month’s cover story, “Walk on Air Against Your Better Judgment,” Caitlin Flanagan writes about her relationship with poet Seamus Heaney. Heaney first met the Flanagan family during his year teaching English at UC Berkeley. Flanagan’s father, Tom, is a professor. Heaney became a father for the second time. Flanagan wrote and the poet and his work shaped her understanding of the world. The cover photo shows Heaney at the Royal Society of Literature in London in 1995, months before he won that year’s Nobel Prize for Literature.

– Paul Spella– Senior Art Director

Editing

“The Most Remote Places on Earth” (November 2024) states that compared to the universe, The plane of the International Space Station’s orbit has never changed, in fact, due to Earth’s backwardness. So it changes with time.

This article appeared in January 2025 Print edition with the heading “The Commons” when you purchase the book using the links on this page. We will earn commission. Thank you for your support. atlantic ocean