Our National Moment

There have been moments in our nation's history when our country has had to face actors of war, non-state actors of terror, economic crises, and even pandemics. This is one of those moments where our nation is being tested once again.

Seven months ago our nation and the world was thrust into a state of emergency in response to a disease we didn't understand. In those seven months 35.5 million people around the world would become infected by COVID-19. Over 1 million would be dead. And 1/5th of the world's population infected would be right here in the United States. 210,000 Americans are now dead as a result of it. In almost every national crisis the U.S. has faced in our 244 year history as a country our people have turned to government for answers. And when that government has struggled to provide answers they were swept out of office and into history. Whether it was in the Great Depression with Herbert Hoover, the Civil War with the election of Abraham Lincoln, or the 2008 financial crisis with Barack Obama this has been a common occurrence.

Regardless of our incumbent President's actions in response or lack thereof depending on where you stand on the political spectrum to this national crisis he won't be remembered for his policies because that's not how Americans vote. They vote based on their hopes, fears, and personal experiences. And in times like this an embattled President who has attacked the press for being "unfair", with a divided congress now facing a controversial Supreme Court nomination, and a country divided along lines of racial tensions that have once again pushed America to a breaking point where our political divisions are explosive and the country's differences seem almost irreconcilable it seems impossible to see a path forward. We have been here before.

Immediately after someone contracted the first case of COVID-19 in the U.S. the federal government took action to block travel from China and other countries. Many policies were implemented. Some policies were attacked for infringing on the civil liberties of Americans. Others were called not strict enough by the president's detractors. The country had to battle the voice of public opinion and utilize the tools it had at its disposal to combat the crisis via legislative action with the CARES Act, Paycheck Protection Program, and so much more. Then came the day of fire with the murder of George Floyd which rocked the nation on issues of race to its core which has only worsened tensions between communities of colors and police.

All of this was happening as our private and public sector was working to implement the largest mass mobilization effort since World War II to combat the Coronavirus pandemic that has left thousands dead and millions more infected here and around the world. From mask ordinances to controversial re-openings the American public has had to go day by day living with the prospects of losing their job tomorrow. The disease of unemployment has thrown millions out of work. Those on fixed incomes have watched their savings and purchasing power evaporate. Millions more Americans have filed for unemployment in numbers never seen before. State and local government unemployment systems crashed almost immediately and the stock market collapsed along with the price of oil and other commodities. The national debt soared to over $26 trillion and our budget deficit to over $3 trillion, which is inconceivable in an economy where eight months ago was the strongest it had ever been. We have also watched as our public and private safety nets crumble under the weight of this disaster. Confusion among public officials and agencies on getting the most accurate information about this disease out to the public has left many wondering what was even going on. Americans have been told to sacrifice in ways not seen since 1941 by social distancing measures and by not leaving their homes. Back then it was in response to a world war. But the sentiment still stands. Many Americans are used to uniting in moments of crisis. But in this unusual moment we're being told to stay apart and we've had difficulty getting used to this because we know it is not normal. We've become faces behind a screen.

This is the worst national public health crisis since 1918. Moments like these have tested not only our national character before, but have tested an incumbent's ability to solve problems and solve them fast. Not because speed matters, but because we Americans are notorious for wanting immediacy. Americans will make a decision in less than a month to determine whether or not Donald Trump met that task, if he failed on his own accord, or if he was a victim to forces beyond his control. The fact is that politics is about perception. Not policy. This is an unfortunate truth, but that is how it works. What this pandemic has shown us as a people is that even the President is not immune from this disease. After the dust of this moment settles Americans will remember not the policies implemented in Washington, but the phone call they got when they were told they were laid off. Not the mask mandate in their county, but the day they were told their mother was likely to die in the hospital, and their only way of saying goodbye was behind solid glass looking in.

Whoever takes office in January will face the greatest national crisis in a generation. The person who will be elected will have to be ready on day one. That is the job of any public official, but especially of the President of the United States. We never know what the day will bring or what the country will confront by then. But what we do know is that this crisis has not only changed the country, but it has awakened the American people to a new era of wanting more government involvement in their lives whether we like it or not. It will be something we have to come to grips with.

Each American President who has faced a crisis has sometimes succeeded and sometimes failed. But each crisis will test the person in the chair where so many leaders have sat before. 159 years ago on the day of Abraham Lincoln's inauguration he was sworn in by slaveholding Chief Justice Roger Brooks Taney the man who had delivered Dred Scott seven states had voted to secede from the union beginning with South Carolina. Lincoln faced the worst national crisis in American history. He had to figure out how to keep the union together while at the same time assuring the south of their concerns over the preservation of the institution of slavery. Moments after his inauguration Lincoln walked into a quiet oval office, but already sitting on his desk was a dispatch. And the dispatch wrote that Fort Sumter was running low on supplies for its protection and that it needed a ship to come in and resupply the fort. Lincoln well understood if he sent a ship the south could possibly take it as a declaration of war and that it would ultimately lead to the union's dissolution if war broke out. Moments like these are what test a President. We are nowhere near where we were in 1861, but we are extremely divided and the nation requires swift and bold action because that's what the American people demand. Whether we get it will be up to us on November 3rd.