It's About to Get Political

As my little boy just celebrated his first birthday, I have found myself thinking a lot about the world he will grow up in. We got through the first year unscathed, and I look forward to all the great times ahead of us. However, I have also found myself worrying at times for the things we may have to survive. I was a freshman in college when the September 11th attacks happened and I remember like it was yesterday how it shook me to the core. Everyone related it to what Pearl Harbor must have been like for our grandparents...a day that will live in infamy.

Thinking about our nation's politics and all the craziness a two-party system invites, I truly feel for the President and all the difficult decisions that have faced him so far as well as those that will face him in the future. Let me also be quick to say this has nothing to do with political party or even the President himself. I felt the same way about George W. Bush when he was in office. It just can't be an easy job, there's no doubt about it.

As I ponder these things, and pray for the best possible world for my son, I think it would be interesting to compare the man who was president for most of the 1950's, Dwight D. Eisenhower with our current president, Barack Obama. What similarities do these men share? What are/were the main difficulties of their presidencies? Is there really more to fear now than ever before? Or are we still dealing with the same issues of the 1950's, just in slightly different packaging? Hang with me...it's about to get political.

According to www.whitehouse.gov, Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States "worked incessantly during his two terms to ease the tensions of the Cold War."

Ten presidencies later, Barack Obama is trying to fight The War on Terror and ease tensions in the Middle East.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, or "Ike" as he was referred to, enjoyed a "sweeping victory" to the presidency, as did Barack Obama. It seems like both these men campaigned around the idea of hope, which the nation so desperately needed at the time of their respective elections.

Ike and Barack both had to deal with budget issues (apparently we couldn't get our spending under control in the 50's either!) - and President Obama's are far from over. Somehow he needs to find a way to get the two parties to work together and really make the decisions that are best for the American people. And that is not a task I envy in the least!

"As desegregation of schools began, [Eisenhower] sent troops into Little Rock, Arkansas, to assure compliance with the orders of a Federal court; he also ordered the complete desegregation of the Armed Forces. 'There must be no second class citizens in this country,' he wrote." (www.whitehouse.gov). Decades later, our country has elected the first African American president. We still have a long way to go, but there is a part of me that is hopeful that we could one day live in a country where there truly aren't any people thought of as second class citizens - I'm guessing no one would have believed back in Ike's day that there ever would be an African American president!

As I read through the struggles each of these presidents has had to face, I realize that there is no way to shelter my son completely from the evils of this world. I also realize that the evils of this world haven't gotten any bigger since Eisenhower's day, though they certainly remain. Beacause of this, I believe that all presidents deserve respect as the elected leader of our nation. I don't have to agree with everything they do or say, but I will try not to be disrespectful of our country's president, no matter who they are. They have the least desirable job I can think of and everyone in the world watching them while they do it!

Amy Vanderbilt states in her Guide to Gracious Living that if you are ever in a situation in which you are addressing the president in writing, you do it this way:

"My dear Mr. President".

And you sign the letter:

"Very respectfully," (p. 437). Coincidence? I think not.