The Momentous Presidential Election of 2016 (November 9, 2016)

Since the inception of this blog almost four years ago, I have assiduously avoided turning it into anything even approaching a forum for my political beliefs. This blog is, however, a genealogy and family history forum AND it is preserved in book form for my sons, descendants, and relatives; as such it occasionally delves into matters of present concern because my involvement in present day events will unavoidably become matters of family history for my descendants. [By way of example, see my blog post about my experience of the events of 9-11 here.]

And so this brings me to the historic events of yesterday, November 8, 2016, when Donald J. Trump became our President-elect and soon-to-be 45th President.

I emphatically did not want Mr. Trump to become our President. I contributed, organized, advertised, volunteered, and voted to try to prevent it from happening. But Mr. Trump won in the electoral college and so he (by his own words) will not contest what he repeatedly called a "rigged" election. . . and neither can we or should we. We must have a peaceful transition of power if we are to preserve our democracy and our country.

It was a hellish campaign. The absolute worst of my lifetime. And we as a nation are going to have to reconcile to it and live through the repercussions -- indeed the entire world will have to. Donald J. Trump will be our President for at least the next four years.

Fifty or a hundred years or more from now this election will be distant history. We have no idea how the Trump presidency will turn out. We can only hope that it is a net positive for the great majority of Americans, who comprise a true melting pot of various people. History and results will judge the winner of this momentous election . . . and our descendants will judge us with the hindsight of decades or centuries regarding how we stood at this time and in this place.

I write this post to go into the book version of my blog in order to make it clear for my descendants that I stood against Mr. Trump and tried my best to prevent him from becoming President of the United States. Those who supported Mr. Trump will have to own their decision too . . . and perhaps have to explain to their descendants.

They say that when a person actually assumes the awesome power and responsibility of the presidency of the United States it changes him. He has such power and responsibility that it alters his perspective and his deliberation before deciding on a course of action that will affect an entire nation. Our history is replete with examples of presidential evolution in office. For the greater good of this country we can only hope that Mr. Trump is transformed by the high office to which he will ascend and that he deliberates carefully and circumspectly as he moves forward!

Finally, for those of you who are frantic about the results of yesterday's election, I highly recommend you read the post by Tim Urban at Wait But Why blog. It is titled "It's Going to Be Okay."  

[I should note that Tim Urban's piece does contain some words that many readers might consider profane or vulgar, but I must -- in all fairness -- mention that the words are no worse than language that our President-elect used publicly before tens of thousands of Americans over the last year or more and that were broadcast over our radio and TV airwaves.] 

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The photograph of the parachutist with the American flag was taken by the author.

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Copyright 2016, John D. Tew

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