America is the most powerful nation on earth. It possesses the most dynamic economy in the world, in conjunction with the strongest military. The United States was the most dominant political power of the 20th century.
Despite this often overwhelming dominance, we were not always successful in our pursuit of our identified policies and national goals. It appears to me that we succeeded when we were politically united. Our successes included World War II, the Marshall Plan, winning the Cold War and perhaps space exploration.
Perseverance, courage and hard work proved critical to our success, but perhaps more critical was the simple notion of pulling together as a nation. America would fail when our leaders failed to unite the nation by the use of politics to educate and persuade the people of the value and efficacy of any particular policy or national goal.
Our current president has done more to fracture our politics over the past year than the previous four presidents combined. His denigration and disrespect of any who oppose him has cast a pall over our politics and reveals his lack of understanding of our vibrant democracy.