Mitt Romney: The president shapes the public character of the nation. Trump’s character falls short.
President Trump speaks during an interview with Washington Post reporters Philip Rucker and Josh Dawsey in the Oval Office at the White House on Nov. 27. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
Mitt Romney, a Republican from Utah and the party’s 2012 nominee for president, will be sworn into the U.S. Senate on Thursday.
The
Trump presidency made a deep descent in December. The departures of
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and White House Chief of Staff John
F. Kelly, the appointment of senior persons of lesser experience, the
abandonment of allies who fight beside us, and the president’s thoughtless claim that America has long been a “sucker” in world affairs all defined his presidency down.
It is well known that Donald Trump was not my choice
for the Republican presidential nomination. After he became the
nominee, I hoped his campaign would refrain from resentment and
name-calling. It did not. When he won the election, I hoped he would
rise to the occasion. His early appointments of Rex Tillerson, Jeff
Sessions, Nikki Haley, Gary Cohn, H.R. McMaster, Kelly and Mattis were
encouraging. But, on balance, his conduct over the past two years,
particularly his actions last month, is evidence that the president has
not risen to the mantle of the office.
It is not that all of the president’s policies have been misguided. He was right to align U.S. corporate taxes with those of global competitors, to strip out excessive regulations, to crack down on China’s unfair trade practices, to reform criminal justice
and to appoint conservative judges. These are policies mainstream
Republicans have promoted for years. But policies and appointments are
only a part of a presidency.
To
a great degree, a presidency shapes the public character of the nation.
A president should unite us and inspire us to follow “our better
angels.” A president should demonstrate the essential qualities of
honesty and integrity, and elevate the national discourse with comity
and mutual respect. As a nation, we have been blessed with presidents
who have called on the greatness of the American spirit. With the nation
so divided, resentful and angry, presidential leadership in qualities
of character is indispensable. And it is in this province where the
incumbent’s shortfall has been most glaring.
Some hosts and guests on cable news shows commented on the Washington Post op-ed written by Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) on Jan. 2.
The world is also watching. America
has long been looked to for leadership. Our economic and military
strength was part of that, of course, but our enduring commitment to
principled conduct in foreign relations, and to the rights of all people
to freedom and equal justice, was even more esteemed. Trump’s words and
actions have caused dismay around the world. In a 2016 Pew Research
Center poll, 84 percent of people in Germany, Britain, France, Canada
and Sweden believed the American president would “do the right thing in
world affairs.” One year later, that number had fallen to 16 percent.
This
comes at a very unfortunate time. Several allies in Europe are
experiencing political upheaval. Several former Soviet satellite states
are rethinking their commitment to democracy. Some Asian nations, such
as the Philippines,
lean increasingly toward China, which advances to rival our economy and
our military. The alternative to U.S. world leadership offered by China
and Russia is autocratic, corrupt and brutal.
The
world needs American leadership, and it is in America’s interest to
provide it. A world led by authoritarian regimes is a world — and an
America — with less prosperity, less freedom, less peace.
To
reassume our leadership in world politics, we must repair failings in
our politics at home. That project begins, of course, with the highest
office once again acting to inspire and unite us. It includes political
parties promoting policies that strengthen us rather than promote
tribalism by exploiting fear and resentment. Our leaders must defend our
vital institutions despite their inevitable failings: a free press, the
rule of law, strong churches, and responsible corporations and unions.
We must repair our fiscal foundation, setting a course to a balanced budget. We must attract the best talent to America’s service and the best innovators to America’s economy.
America is strongest when our arms are linked with other nations. We want a unified and strong Europe, not a disintegrating union. We want stable relationships with the nations of Asia that strengthen our mutual security and prosperity.
I look forward to working on these priorities with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other senators.
Furthermore,
I will act as I would with any president, in or out of my party: I will
support policies that I believe are in the best interest of the country
and my state, and oppose those that are not. I do not intend to comment
on every tweet or fault. But I will speak out against significant
statements or actions that are divisive, racist, sexist, anti-immigrant,
dishonest or destructive to democratic institutions.
I
remain optimistic about our future. In an innovation age, Americans
excel. More importantly, noble instincts live in the hearts of
Americans. The people of this great land will eschew the politics of
anger and fear if they are summoned to the responsibility by leaders in
homes, in churches, in schools, in businesses, in government — who raise
our sights and respect the dignity of every child of God — the ideal
that is the essence of America.
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