Comments by "June VanDerMark" (@junevandermark952) on "'It's Just Wrong': Jim Jordan Slams Death Threats Against House Republicans Opposing Him For Speaker" video.

  1. Because of the selfish nature of humans, politics is ugly ... but we can be very thankful that George Washington ... the first President of the United States was such a good and honorable man in the sense of making sure Presidents were not allowed to stay in office their whole lives ... because if that had occurred, Presidents would probably all have been uncontrol able ... unapproachable dictators. From the book … Washington: The Indispensable Man … author … James Thomas Flexner During the election, however, Washington adhered to his highest principles. The stakes, he felt, were much higher than any partisanship, so high that risks would have to be taken concerning what would happen after the hand was played. He saw the election as a potential demonstration to all the world that republican institutions were, in their purity, viable. He was, indeed, personally establishing a precedent that extended the Constitution. Despite much discussion of the issue, that document had not limited the number of terms a President could serve. The establishment of the Vice Presidency permitted succession in the monarchical manner: the President, again and again re-elected if he pleased the people, would be, on his death, succeeded by his preestablished heir. Even Jefferson, during his period of closeness with Washington, had been content with the thought that the first President would serve out his lifetime. But Washington wished the succession to be determined, in an absolutely republican manner, by the ballot box. This would be the culmination of his own career, his final gift to the world. Perhaps it was Washington’s realization of his own tremendous power that made him feel that if he intervened in an election he would prevent the people from making their own choice. In any case, he adhered to the resolution he had made when lesser offices were in the balance that he would play absolutely no role in the election. He had no intention of being publicly identified with either the Republicans or the Federalists. Although he believed that Jefferson had betrayed him personally and might well betray the nation of France, the old hero made absolutely no move to block Jefferson’s road to the Presidency. The Federalist candidate, John Adams, won, but, owing to a confusion in the Federalist vote for Vice President, Jefferson came into that office. Washington made no recorded comment. The precedent Washington established, that a President should retire after two terms, held until it was breached by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. It was then formally written into the Constitution.
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