We just watched President Biden’s short farewell address. In it he reiterated that America is great when it offers possibility to everyone, sustains its democratic institutions, keeps the three powers separate, and does not put the president above the law.
These principles were once considered givens in any discussion of what America means, how our government works and what it protects, and what our society represents. Now they are reclassified as liberal talking points, partisan ideals actively opposed and scorned by the majority of Americans.
Last week, on January 10, the president-elect appeared in court onscreen to have any punishment for his felony conviction waived–an “unconditional discharge”–by judge Juan Merchan. Here’s how the New York Times described it:
“Donald Trump the ordinary citizen, Donald Trump the criminal defendant” would not be entitled to the protections of the presidency, Justice Merchan said, explaining that only the office shielded the defendant from the verdict’s gravity.
“This court has determined that the only lawful sentence that permits entry of judgment of conviction without encroaching on the highest office of the land is an unconditional discharge,” Justice Merchan said.
He then wished Mr. Trump “godspeed” and departed the bench.
Despite the lenience, the proceeding carried symbolic importance: It formalized Mr. Trump’s status as a felon, making him the first to carry that dubious designation into the presidency.
Yesterday, January 14, Special Counsel Jack Smith (again reported by the NYT) issued his final report:
Jack Smith, the special counsel who indicted President-elect Donald J. Trump on charges of illegally seeking to cling to power after losing the 2020 election, said in a final report released early Tuesday that the evidence would have been sufficient to convict Mr. Trump in a trial, had his 2024 election victory not made it impossible for the prosecution to continue.
“The department’s view that the Constitution prohibits the continued indictment and prosecution of a president is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the government’s proof or the merits of the prosecution, which the office stands fully behind,” Mr. Smith wrote.
He continued: “Indeed, but for Mr. Trump’s election and imminent return to the presidency, the office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial.”
One president goes out, struggling to get the words out as he repeats what Americans used to take for granted, whether they liked it or not, and another comes in, effortlessly destroying what he doesn’t like, to the delight of his followers.
There’s been a lot of talk about what Vice President Kamala Harris “did wrong” in her campaign for president. If only she had done this or that… but it’s all too clear that she lost not because of anything she did or didn’t do, but because the majority of people in this country don’t want democracy and so voted against it. Those who didn’t vote fall into this category.
We reference history here, but there is no historical precedent for what we’re going through, or for what’s to come. At least not in American history. There are many historical precedents for it in other nations. The comparison to Nazi Germany is not overblown.
So what’s the role of the historian in America now? President Biden said it’s our turn to stand guard. Standing guard means a dogged fight, as we now from our own history. It means young children walking a gauntlet of armed mobs to desegregate our public schools. It means women withstanding violence and discrimination for the right to vote. It means gay people marching in the streets through hate-filled crowds to claim their citizenship. It means fighting a civil war to end slavery. Standing guard is not silent, passive work but a daily, active resistance to the forces of fascism. It means standing by the truth and refusing to go along with lies. All battles for civil rights are long and terrible ordeals. But the results when we win those battles are what make life worth living.
So that’s what we’ll be doing, here and elsewhere. People sometimes comfort themselves in dangerous times by saying “history is cyclical–these troubled times will pass.” And that’s true. But the cycle of history only moves when people put their shoulders to the wheel to move it. We’ve seen anti-democracy Americans throw their bodyweight into pushing the nation into a future of destruction, and so we’re moving in that direction. But an equal and opposite reaction can come–if we work at it. It won’t just happen. It will take decades to turn that tide. But what else is worth doing? We can’t think of a better way to spend our time.
The Historic Present 