I have now lived through the administrations of 11 Presidents
of the US. That means I’m old! I grew up during the administrations of Presidents
Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson; I was an adult during the terms of Nixon, Ford, Regan, George HW Bush, Clinton,
George W Bush, and Obama. (The first election in which I was old enough to vote
was in 1972, and I voted for Nixon. We all know how his tenure ended.) Now, after
his inauguration on January 20, 2017, Donald J. Trump will be the 12th
President during my lifetime (so far).
I have lived to see many changes to America as a result of the
leadership of these Presidents. During their terms in office, our country has seen several wars,
political and moral corruption, impeachment of two of them while in office, resulting
in the resignation of one of them; death of one President by an assassination
and attempts on the lives of two others. Yet, we have also witnessed changes
for the good of our country such as changes in voting laws to include 18 year-olds and people of every race. Each man who was elected had detractors; each one had secrets and character flaws. We may not have
known about them instantly, but many of these men’s skeletons have been eventually
revealed by history.
Whether your candidate
was Mr. Trump or Mrs. Clinton, your new President-elect is Mr. Donald Trump.
Like him or loathe him, He is now our Commander-in Chief. As President, he will face some of the same challenges as his
predecessors, both Democrat and Republican; he may also face new ones.
Now, we as Americans are given the opportunity to stay involved and engaged in
the privilege and responsibility of citizenship.
"Now is the time for all good men [and women] to come to
the aid of their country." We must step up and speak up for the unborn, the
un-welcomed, the poor, the tired, the “alien and stranger” among us. It is time
to join together to fight to recover the principles of freedom and faith on
which this nation was founded.
Will we disagree? Yes! Can we dialogue and discuss with
respect and honor for each other so as to determine an outcome that will be
best for everyone? I hope so; I know I am going to do my best to try!
