Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Building a Legacy

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

The American presidency is, like the nation it serves, constantly evolving.  As America changes, so too does the face and life story of its leadership.

During my lifetime, a period covering about one-fourth of the country's presidential lineage, I have witnessed the election of the first Catholic president (John F. Kennedy), the first presidential resignation (Richard Nixon), the ascension of a president who had never run on a national ticket (Gerald Ford), the first president in modern times from the Deep South (Jimmy Carter), the first divorced president (Ronald Reagan), and the first non-Caucasian president (Barack Obama).

During my sixty-eight years I have also lived through a presidential assassination, a presidential impeachment trial in the Senate, and a father and son both elected to our nation's highest office.

By the time the sun rises tomorrow I will have undoubtedly also witnessed the election of our country's first female President - Hillary Clinton - an evolutionary as well as revolutionary step in our political progress toward establishing a just and equitable future for all.  Hillary will have a big job ahead of her as she struggles to bring the nation back together, and we all need to devote our spirit and energies to that task - not for Hillary's legacy, but for our own.

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