It has been an exasperating six months for this author and blogger, as we are witnessing the persistent attack on American democracy, the Constitution, and the rule of law by Donald Trump and his Cabinet officers and other loyalists.
So another break, going on vacation again, is in the offing, with the expectation that there will be a resumption of commentary by the week of August 4.
Meanwhile, to my readers and followers, I wish you all peace and tranquility, a major challenge in these times!
Donald Trump’s incessant attacks on many of his predecessors in the White House is unparalleled in American history!
Trump has attacked over the years not only Barack Obama, but also Joe Biden, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, and both Presidents Bush in vehement and outrageous ways.
In the past, there were cases of “bad blood” between Presidents, but nothing on the scale of what Trump has done.
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had strong criticism of each other, as well as Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams, and neither Adams attended the inauguration of his successor. But later, Adams and Jefferson revived their former friendship, with extensive letter correspondence over the last 14 years of their lives.
John Tyler, Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan were unhappy with Abraham Lincoln’s policies during the Civil War.
Andrew Johnson had issues with his successor, Ulysses S. Grant, and refused to attend Grant’s inauguration.
Theodore Roosevelt fought bitterly against his own annointed successor, William Howard Taft, and challenged him in 1912, and both TR and Wilson were at odds very often with Woodrow Wilson.
Herbert Hoover was very bitter in his loss to Franklin D. Rooosevelt, and during the terms that FDR was in office, probably more vehement than any other situation other than Trump, and FDR never invited Hoover to visit the White House.
Harry Truman was critical of Dwight D. Eisenhower to some extent, and he and Richard Nixon were dire enemies, until Nixon brought the Truman piano in the White House to the Truman Library in 1969.
Jimmy Carter tended to be critical of other Presidents, but in the case of Gerald Ford, they became the best of friends after both had left office. Carter remained a strong critic, but in a dignified manner, of George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump.
Despite past rivalries, both Bush Presidents and Bill Clinton became good friends in later years, and the same for Barack Obama and the two Bushes.
It is extremely inappropriate for the members of the “Presidents Club” to be lambasting others in that group, and it was refreshing that Carter and Ford became friends, and that the Bushes and Clinton were cooperative, as well as Obama with the Bushes.
But then, Donald Trump has destroyed the idea of camaraderie among the small, select group who have the opportunity to be President of the United States.