What America needs in its next president

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As we prepare to vote to elect a new president, I ask myself two questions: What does it mean to be an American at this time in our history? What kind of a president do we need to lead us?

Since I was born in the 1950s, being an American has evolved to include many nationalities and cultures from many countries. Personally, my family tree has evolved from my German immigrant and colonial Mayflower roots to include Korean, Dominican, Polish, Italian and Lithuanian branches. And many variations in between. America has undergone a similar transformation.

In 1960, 85% of America was white, with the remainder 11% Black, 3.5% Hispanic and .6% Asian. By 2011, white was 63%, Hispanic 17%, Black 12% and Asian 5%. It is estimated the numbers will change by 2050 to 47% white, 29% Hispanic, 13% Black and 9% Asian.

The world has come home. We are a multicultural powerhouse blessed with ideas, foods and traditions that infuse vitality and youth into our democracy. Acceptance, tolerance and inclusion permeate our national and state culture. We celebrate African, Asian and Hispanic people more so now alongside our Indigenous, Black, Canadian and Franco-American neighbors. As a wise friend said many years ago, “It takes a whole lot of people to make the world go round.”

The best way to respond to our new diversity is illustrated by a man named Kevin Roche, a member of the Norfolk, Massachusetts, Select Board. As reported by the Washington Post, he has used restrain and patience as over 400 Haitian immigrants are given shelter at a former prison after many months staying at Logan Airport in Boston. There are mostly women and children fleeing violence. He is thoughtful, kind, open, and uses common sense in midst of anger and hatred spewing from his fellow Americans. The Maine Constitution says like many other states we exist to “establish justice, insure tranquility, provide for mutual defense, promote our common welfare, and secure to ourselves and our posterity the blessings of liberty …” As Americans from our beginnings have worked for our “common welfare” to include all of our neighbors in the body politic.

A local Quaker meetinghouse posts the following message: “Love Your Neighbors. No Exceptions.” In a video statement quoted in the New York Times, Catherine Middleton, the Princess of Wales, said after recovering from cancer that “This time has above all reminded William and me to reflect and be grateful for the simple yet important things in life, which so many of us often take for granted. Of simply loving and being loved.” These are the ideals upon which we as a state and as a country were founded.

To lead us, we need a person who serves to uphold our collective public welfare and the public good. In other words, a person who wants what is best for our 21st century country, not for the best interests of one political party over another. Someone to be a true servant of the people, to advance the public good over personal gain and corporate interests. We need our leaders to stand up for justice for all, not just their friends and family. We are a nation of laws and tolerance not intolerance and mob rule. A leader who does not indulge in scapegoating and stereotyping but someone who accepts us as individuals to make our own choices within the boundaries of law and custom.

After 9/11, the world united behind us and gave us a wellspring of good will. We need to regain that footing and have the world trust our leadership again by advancing the sovereignty of all nations. We need a president who will stand up to regimes like Russia and North Korea and not befriend, admire and enable their leaders. In Article III, Section III of the Constitution, it clearly says treason is “… adhering to our enemies, giving them aid and comfort.” And in the Preamble to the Constitution, it says, “We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for common defense, promote the general Welfare … establish this Constitution.”

We need a leader who will unite us, not divide us. We need a president who will strengthen the union and its democratic institutions, not tear them down. We need a leader who will champion Americans irrespective of how they got here.

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