The following is the first in a series of recurring columns designed to increase media literacy in a political climate saturated with misinformation ahead of the 2024 elections.
When asked about the designated responsibilities of the president of the United States of America, many clear roles come to mind.
Commander in chief, foreign diplomat and head of the executive branch are several that have been carried out in various ways by present and former administrations.
A lesser-known role — one that has been all but forgotten — is the responsibility of Chief Citizen. As the face of the country, the president is intended to be a representative of our American doctrines, values and interests. Included in this role is a sense of decorum: humility, class and communication that transcends political agendas.
Though they’re slightly before our time, I recommend watching interactions between former presidential candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney for examples of political decorum. Though partisan opponents, they were known for complimenting each other in public, respecting and assenting to each other in debates and congratulating each other on political wins and successes.
This type of behavior was not exclusive to these two particular candidates. In former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s concession speech to current presidential candidate Donald Trump, she congratulated his success and reinforced the constitutional importance of the transfer of power. “We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead,” she said, even after she won the popular vote in a devastatingly close election.
Regardless of how you feel about these particular candidates, their policies and their platforms, it cannot be denied that decorum used to be nonpartisan, expected and essential to many voters. When Trump began his presidential campaign in 2016, he drastically impacted this tradition of decorum — unfortunately, much for the worse.
In sharp contrast to Clinton in 2016, Trump broke presidential tradition when he did not offer a concession speech and instead publicly refused to accept the results of the election for several weeks. His presence on social media heightened the intensity of his classlessness, resorting to frequent name-calling and juvenile bullying. As the country became more adjusted to his abrasion, their standards for decorum took a sharp decline.
The 2020 presidential debate highlighted this for viewers across the nation. In an unbelievably immature fashion, former candidates Trump and Joe Biden wasted their mic time with insults, derogation and outbursts. These couple hours were dystopian and sobering, completely antithetical to American values.
