REPUBLICANS MUST SAVE PARTY FROM TRUMP AND TRUMP SUPPORTERS
Almost four decades ago, I came to the United States as a graduate student. I was enthralled with the Watergate hearings with both Republicans and Democrats intent on getting to the truth. I watched as Nixon made the historical and honorable decision to resign for the greater good of the country and the Republican party.
This was for me a totally different experience –having just come out from a bloody civil war that created the new nation of Bangladesh. I was used to military dictators suppressing free speech, elected leaders sent to jail, and endemic corruption. I was drawn to the Republican party for its emphasis on individualism, smaller less intrusive government, and of course inspirational history of being Abraham Lincoln’s party.
Today’s Republican Party does not have any resemblance to its history, principles, or enduring examples of its recent Presidents. It did not matter who it was, every one of the Republican President that I have observed, considered themselves to be the President of all the people and tried to operate as a unifying force.
It is hard to imagine today that it was President Richard Nixon who signed into law the Clean Water Act (CWA) and created Environmental Protection Agency. Republican Party is perceived as anti-environment now. A die-hard anti-communist like Nixon opened the door to a relationship with China and a détente with Russia (then USSR). It was also ok for the Republican National Senatorial Committee under Senator Bill Brock from Tennessee to commission staff papers criticizing President Nixon for putting on wage and price controls to stifle inflation. I remember because I co-authored the paper with Professor Butler from Saint Louis University.
President Nixon was followed by our first unelected President – Gerald Ford. He sacrificed all prospects of being elected by pardoning Richard Nixon. He genuinely felt that the country needed to move beyond Nixon’s resignation and come together.
The next Republican president was Ronald Reagan who personified decency and freed up the economy from draconian tax rates benefitting every segment of the population. It was also President Reagan who signed into law one of the largest immigration reforms in US history (Immigration Reform and Control Act) which granted amnesty and a path to citizenship to over 3 million illegal aliens. His legislative and philosophical “enemy” was House Speaker and Democrat Eugene “Tip” O’Neill. Both battled on the role of government, played golf together, and referred to each other as friends. In the last two years of his Presidency, Donald Trump and Speaker Pelosi did not even speak to one another.
President George Herbert Bush created the new Department of Education and got “No Child Left Behind” Act passed. He truly believed that educational access and opportunity were the keys to greater prosperity and the best way to address income inequality. His son, President George W. Bush has done more to combat the spread of aids particularly in Africa than any political leader in the world. George W Bush also expanded Medicare to include drug benefit which has helped millions of low-income senior citizens.
All the Republican presidents I have mentioned above firmly believed in equal opportunity, smaller government, fiscal responsibility, cutting government funding of abortion, and strong defense. They did not question the patriotism of democrats or anyone opposed to them. They worked with our traditional allies and were respectful of others. Their personal characters were above reproach, did not allow personal egos to cloud their decision-making, and did not need a photo-op with the bible to show their faith.
This is what the traditional Republican Party stood for and its leaders embodied. What we saw in the Trump years did not in any way reflect the party or its principles. Even prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the federal debt was at an all-time high. Office of the Presidency was disgraced by the President’s constant lies and narcissistic behavior. Good, decent people within the administration were humiliated publicly. Sadly, there was not one person who dared to tell the President when he was wrong. Eventually, it was Donald Trump’s stubborn, one-dimensional thinking which resulted in the biggest mismanagement in US Presidential history – coronavirus pandemic.
Crisis management requires transparency and credibility on the part of the decision-maker. People want to be led during a crisis, but you must be honest with them. In this aspect, President Trump was an absolute failure. The alternate universe that was created against the science-based approach to fight the pandemic cost us the lives of almost half a million people and sent the economy in a massive tailspin.
It is time for the Republican Party to again become the party of Lincoln and Reagan. It must get back to fiscal responsibility and work with Biden to offer targeted relief to various sectors and segments of the economy and population. Instead of aligning with Proud Boys and similar racist supporters, it may broaden its tent to include participation from conservative elements among African Americans and Hispanics. Instead of claiming voter fraud, it may put on the table an improved system for electronic voting and consistency among the states.
Getting back to the traditional Republican platform and values in the short run may cause the loss of some voters but will save the party. Insults and sowing seeds of division may have worked against a flawed candidate like Hillary in 2016 but contributed to the loss of the House majority in 2018 and the Presidency in 2020. Long term viability of the Republican Party rests on getting back to the pre-Trump values.
Author:
Dr. Faisal M. Rahman, Professor & Founding Dean, The Graham School of Management, Saint Xavier University, Chicago, IL 60655. Dr. Rahman is also the CEO/President of APAC group of healthcare companies which operates ambulatory surgery centers and physician practices in Illinois and Indiana. Contact – rahman@sxu.edu …cell 1-312-533-0452