Four former presidents expressed confidence that the United States’s best days are ahead, because of democracy’s “self-correcting” power.
In an NBC News interview that aired on Tuesday, former presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden shared a message to the country in light of the nation’s semiquincentennial. They sat down for the interview on the sidelines of a History Talks event in Philadelphia, which traditionally features former presidents.
FORMER PRESIDENTS PROJECT OPTIMISM FOR US FUTURE IN AMERICA 250 MESSAGE: ‘DON’T GIVE UP’
“One of the key things I’m going to try to do during the 250th is encourage citizens to participate in the process, and if you don’t like what’s going on, vote, and that’s how America heals itself,” Bush said. “Be a citizen, not a spectator. And by that I mean participate in the process, but also love a neighbor like you’d like to be loved yourself.”
The ‘wonders’ of America are still alive, presidents say
Biden described the American dream as a promise that still holds true, offering hope for the future.
“The idea that a kid from Scranton, Pennsylvania — We weren’t poor, but we’re a middle-class family — a guy who used to have a stutter, could end up being president of the United States. It’s just kind of a story of what America is all about,” he said.
Bush reiterated that the country’s 250th year offers a chance to reflect on the privileges of being an American and unite around common values.
“One of the things about the 250th is a chance to focus on the common good and the wonders of this country, the history of this country, the fact that you can worship freely without government tell you how to worship, the fact that you can speak in the public square without being jailed, the fact that we have a press that’s willing to hold power to account,” Bush said.
“I mean, these are all things that should and generally do unite us,” he added. I would hope people will take a look at our history and realize we’re an imperfect nation trying to be more perfect. But be optimistic about the future of the country.”
The presidents acknowledge ‘rough patches’, but warn against cynicism
All of the former presidents acknowledged that the country is grappling with challenges. But Obama said in the past, Americans have emerged “on the other side stronger.”
“Hope is not blind optimism. Hope, it arises in the face of difficulty, in the face of uncertainty,” he said. “Obviously, we’re going through some uncertain times, but when you look at the sweep of American history, we’ve gone through rough patches. and we tend to come out on the other side of them stronger.”
Bush expressed confidence that the U.S.’s democratic underpinnings will continue to bind the country together.
“I am not concerned about the long-term health of our country, because I’ve studied enough history to know that we’ve been through periods of intense anger and intense rivalry of ideas, but the beauty about democracy is that it’s self-correcting,” he said.
Is the US really divided?
Polling suggests many voters believe the country is deeply divided and that polarization is expanding across the 50 states.
Source: Gallup
Biden said he’s a believer that divisions aren’t as prevalent as they seem
“I’m not sure we’re as divided as we portrayed,” he said. I’m sure there’s anywhere from 15% to 30% of the people who are on one end here, but I think the vast majority of people are coming around … I’m hopeful that people are going to begin to say, ‘We got to slow this thing up on the 250 anniversary.’”
Obama made a similar observation, saying he was struck during his presidency by the common decency of Americans.
“You get to meet the widest possible cross-section of the American people,” he said. “Every corner of this country is just full of really amazing, hard-working, decent people, and getting that broad overview of who we are as Americans, it made me much less cynical. It made me less prone to think there’s an ‘us’ and a ‘they.’”
How the public can bridge the gap and unify during America 250
Clinton advocated considering others ahead of personal or political gain, reflecting on the conciliatory letter his arch-rival at the time, President George H.W. Bush, left for him in the Oval Office in 1993. “Your success now is our country’s success. I am rooting hard for you,” the elder Bush famously wrote, despite losing the 1992 election to Clinton.
Musing on that moment, Clinton said it taught him that “America is bigger than anybody’s personal hopes and dreams.”
Clinton later said that another experience, his encounter with President John F. Kennedy at the White House in 1963, which inspired his career in public service, was also a pivotal learning moment in how doing “something good” can change a life, and even a nation.
“It made me realize that a president, even on a bad day, can do something good for somebody,” Clinton said. I am grateful that I had a chance to do what President Kennedy said everyone should want to do, to make maximum use of the talents God gave me, and to do it in a way that benefited other people.”
Bush urged citizens not to be a “spectator” but to be an active participant in the democratic process. He pointed to the response after 9/11 as an example of how the U.S. can come together, expressing hope that the country can recapture hope that is “still latent in the American soul.”
“[Sept. 11, 2001]: I think historians will analyze that day, America’s response after that day. It was a reminder that the human condition elsewhere matters to the security of this country. It mattered then and now, but I think people want to know how the country responded,” Bush said. “It was overwhelming volunteerism.… It was an outpouring of patriotism. We can recapture that. I hope it doesn’t require crisis, but it’s still latent in the American soul.”
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The Bush-Obama relationship, and the example it sets
Bush was questioned during the interview on a moment during Sen. John McCain’s funeral in 2018 when he gave former first lady Michelle Obama an Altoid. It was a small action that went viral, Bush said, and taught him that people are tired of polarization in politics.
“I was kind of teasing her and stuff, and I slipped her an Altoid, not as a joke, but I thought she might want one,” he said. “And I got in the car afterwards, and she said, you’re trending.… Turns out that country has starved to see a white center-right Republican and African American, center-left Democrat, having fun and being able to converse, not as political figures, but as citizens. And I intend to continue to try to do that.”