whole world was watching
and other nations could not …
help but be impressed
I’ve never been a Nixon-hater, and I felt no pleasure when he resigned.
But if it had to be, I’m glad it happened the way it did.
A president fell and a new president took over, and yet there was no scuffling, no guns, no harsh bickering, no crowds in the streets— not so much as a fistfight.
The whole world was watching, and other nations couldn’t help but be impressed.
After all, when leaders fall, their governments usually collapse as well.
But our transition was orderly and by the book, and this period, as much as anything in our history, showed the strength of our great democracy.
Man of the House : the life and political memoirs of Speaker Tip O’Neill by Tip O’Neill (New York: Random House, 1987).
I have to ask, what has the recent effort to make America great again achieved over this?
About the last 10 years there is little to contribute to writing that this period, as much as anything in our history, showed the strength of our great democracy.
Mr. O’Neill concluded his book with an epilogue titled, What I Believe.
He wrote:
I BEGAN my political career in 1936, on a slogan of “work and wages.” Today, more than half a century later, I’m still a bread-and-butter liberal who believes that, every family deserves the opportunity to earn an income, own a home, educate their children, and afford medical care.
That is the American dream, and it’s still worth fighting for. In my view, the federal government has an obligation to help you along the line until you achieve that dream. And when you do, you have an obligation to help out the next group that comes along.
What a dreamer and what a dream.
Let’s repeat those last two sentences.
The federal government has an obligation to help you along the line until you achieve that dream.
And when you do, you have an obligation to help out the next group that comes along.
Just boil it down to the simple statements that the federal government has an obligation to help you and you have an obligation to help the next group.
Those two statement as much as anything in our history, show the strength of our great democracy.
That is where the focus should be if anyone wants to make America great again.
Speaker Tip O’Neill was Speaker of the House from Gerald Ford to Ronald Reagan and most likely that last of Speaker of House to hold real power in politics.
When he died, President Bill Clinton paid tribute to him, saying, “Tip O’Neill was the nation’s most prominent, powerful and loyal champion of working people… He loved politics and government because he saw that politics and government could make a difference in people’s lives. And he loved people most of all.“
AS KIND OF A POSTSCRIPT, Mr. O’Neill also wrote:
God has been good to America, especially during difficult times.
At the time of the Civil War, he gave us Abraham Lincoln.
And at the time of Watergate, he gave us Gerald Ford—the right man at the right time who was able to put our nation back together again.
Nothing like Watergate had ever happened before in our history, but we came out of it strong and free, and the transition from Nixon’s administration to Ford’s was a thing of awe and dignity.
Making an assessment based on the folks now in Government, I think God doesn’t like us much right now.
No Haiku For You 