Commentary: I miss the time of presidential reverence

I am old enough to remember a time in our country’s history when a president was someone to respect and emulate. John F. Kennedy’s book “Profiles in Courage” was an inspired read to this scruffy South Side Chicago kid, who had aspirations of becoming president, or perhaps a lawyer, like my other hero Abraham Lincoln.

Equally aspirational was Lyndon Johnson’s continuation of Kennedy’s “Great Society,” a place, Kennedy said, “where the meaning of man’s life matches the marvels of man’s labor.”

Out of this vision came the 1965 Medicare amendment to Social Security, an amendment that I use with each trip to see my growing list of specialists.

Visionary words matched subsequent deeds, as when the historic Civil Rights Act was passed, making it a crime to discriminate in the workplace and all public facilities based on race and gender. Head Start was established. Volunteers in Service to America sent thousands of idealistic young people into impoverished regions of the United States as part of Johnson’s 1964 War on Poverty.

These programs led to my own engagement in our sacred democracy. They have lifted up our nation and remain examples of how the government can be a safety net for those who struggle. And, for this aging boomer, Johnson, Kennedy and Lincoln will always have my respect.

I so badly miss that time of presidential reverence, a time that younger Americans certainly cannot imagine in this campaign cycle of swear words, crass sexual innuendos, gaslighting and blatant lies.

When I listen to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump bellow out his profane tropes against his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, and anyone who will not flatter him, I am reminded of an over-the-hill comedian performing in a Las Vegas nightclub.

I have three grandchildren who I want to be engaged in our fragile democracy. I want them to respect the office of the president. I want their generation to look to whoever holds that office as an inspiration to a higher calling. I want my grandkids to view a president as someone who will inspire them to be their best selves.

Country over party. Selflessness over selfishness. I want them to be able to quote a president’s speech, with the same enthusiasm they exhibit when they sing Taylor Swift’s lyrics.

I lit up with patriotism when Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: Ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”

So I ask you, my fellow Americans who support Trump: What words has your pick to be president said during this campaign that inspires you?

Was it the recent riff on Arnold Palmer? “When he took showers with the other pros, they came out of there, they said, ‘Oh my God, that’s unbelievable.'”

Perhaps it was this quote that solidified your vote for Trump: “I used to think the Democrats were crazy for saying men have periods. But then I met Tim Walz.”

Or did you cheer when your man attacked solar farms in Arizona? He roared that they were “all steel and glass and wires. It looks like hell. And you see rabbits get caught in it.” Huh?

For “Veterans who Support Trump,” did the following comment he made during his presidency make you salute? “Vietnam would have been a waste of time for me. Only suckers went to Vietnam.” Trump’s bone spurs diagnosis assured that he would not be a sucker.

When U.S. Sen. John McCain died and the flags were correctly lowered to half-staff to honor a true hero, Trump raged to his aides, “We’re not going to support that loser’s funeral. What the (expletive) are we doing that for? Guy was a (expletive) loser.” Note: If McCain is not a hero, who is?

Does any of the above inspire you or your children and grandchildren to be their best selves? Do you want your offspring to parrot those words? What sort of vulgar example is this for future generations that we hope will cherish and defend our sacred democratic values and freedoms?

Words can enlighten and educate, but they also have the power to hurt and sting. The insulting obscenities that Trump utters during his stand-up routines are dangerous.

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Author and journalist Stephen J. Lyons is a former speech writer at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

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