So I have reflected a bit about the completely abnormal nature of the Trump Presidency in the last week. There are certainly no shortage of areas to mine for differences, but two came to mind: transitions and pardons. I am an avid reader of political memoirs and, on Inauguration night there was a video of the three Presidents immediately preceding President Trump which made me think of a few that do a good job putting the Presidency into context. That context, in turn, helps to show just how (dangerously) different the Trump Presidency was.
The video, which appears to be recorded after the Inauguration ceremony, features Presidents Obama, Bush, and Clinton standing around and talking about the office, and the nature of taking the Oath of Office and becoming President. Watching these three men stand around and discuss the nature of taking that responsibility on made me reflect on a book by Jon Meacham entitled "Destiny and Power". This book, about George H.W. Bush, covers the man's life, including his time in office. It also has a reflection on the letter he wrote Bill Clinton and left in the Oval Office, in which President Bush told the man who had just defeated "your success is now our country's success. I'm rooting for you."
Compare that to the nearly two and a half months of President Trump refusing to acknowledge that which was obvious: he had lost, and not necessarily closely, to Joe Biden. There is no doubt that George H.W. Bush was disappointed about losing to Bill Clintion. Bush was a man who rushed to enlist in the armed services to fight in World War II, a man who was shot down over the Pacific in combat, and a man who devoted his life to public service. You are not that sort of person, let alone a person who builds a political career that makes the Presidency even a discussion point, without being competitive. Extremely competitive. And yet, "I'm rooting for you." And, more impressively, everything George H.W. Bush did as former President Bush demonstrated respect for President Clinton, and for the office of the Presidency.
In his recently released memoir, "A Promised Land," President Obama reflects on his own transition into office from George H.W. Bush's son, George W. Bush. No doubt that President George W. Bush's actions played heavily on President Obama's own actions, welcoming President-Elect Donald Trump to the White House days after the election, and joining him the morning of his Inauguration through President Trump taking the Oath of Office.
I was also drawn to a passage in George W. Bush's memoir, "Decision Points," in which he discusses the process of end of term Presidential pardons. Specifically, President Bush notes (page 104-105):
"One of the biggest surprises of my presidency was the flood of pardon requests at the end. I could not believe the number of people who pulled me aside to suggest that a friend or former colleague deserved a pardon. At first I was frustrated. Then I was disgusted. I came to see the massive injustice in the system. If you had connections to the president, you could insert your case into the last-minute frenzy. Otherwise, you had to wait for the Justice Department to conduct a review and make a recommendation. In my final weeks in office, I resolved that I would not pardon anyone who went outside the formal channels..."
Compare these two aspects of the Presidency, transitions and pardons, to the actions of President Trump. The opposite of welcoming in the man who defeated him, and seeking to help him, President Trump sought to actively undermine him, and even overturn the election through illegal means. Rather than prioritize pardon requests that came through the formal channels of Justice Department review, President Trump prioritized pardons brought to him by those who had access, access which was in some instances perhaps paid for.
At the end of this reflection, I recommend another book: "The President's Club" by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy. From Truman through to Obama, all Presidents in the modern era played by a similar set of rules after they left office. No doubt President Trump will play by a very different set of rules; he did, after all, do it his way, and has left us no reason to doubt that anything beyond an extension of that train wreck will continue.
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