In 2000, on the two-hundredth anniversary of the White House, President Bill Clinton invited some of his many friends to a reception and reading. John Adams biographer David McCullough was asked to offer a portion of his forthcoming book for the edification of the glittering assembly.
President John Adams, McCullough said, had been defeated for re-election. He sat in the half-finished White House and reflected on his life. He wrote a letter to his dear wife, Abigail. She had already left for their home in Braintree, Massachusetts. The correspondence between John and Abigail, McCullough informs us, extends on microfiche five miles long. It is itself a national treasure.
John included in his revealing letter to his beloved friend this prayer:
"I pray to heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house and on all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof."
Franklin Roosevelt was so taken with the prayer and lived so long in the White House -- twelve years -- that he had it inscribed in the mantel of the East Room fireplace.
At that Year 2000 White House Bicentennial, Washington Post columnist Mary McGrory was among the guests. She recorded for history the reaction of Bill Clinton's closest associates -- donors, political allies, staff members.
When McCullough repeated John Adams' prayer -- with its blessing and its hope that "none but honest and wise" men would ever rule -- McGrory recorded that everyone in the room looked at his shoes. Everyone, every man and woman, was too embarrassed by Honest John Adams' prayer to face his neighbor.
Who today can contemplate the prospect before us this November and think we are to choose between candidates who are "honest and wise"? A Trump-Hillary choice is no choice. Are we forced to choose between only these two?
There's a great scene in the movie, Master and Commander. Jack Aubrey is a captain in the Royal Navy. His landsman friend, Ship's Surgeon Stephen Maturin, is invited to dinner in the wardroom of the man-of-war HMS Surprise.
After dinner, the ship's young officers entertain themselves by staging a race between two of the bugs they found in ship's biscuits. As the critters race for the edge of the plate, these ensigns and lieutenants invited Stephen to place his wager. He demurs.
Only then does a smiling Captain Aubrey upbraid his friend: "Stephen, you should know in the naval service, we must always choose the lesser of two weevils"
We are Americans, however. And we do not have to choose the lesser of these two weevils. We can find or make an honorable alternative. Clearly, the two-party nominating system is broken. It has produced nothing but these withered figs.
The nominating system does not deserve our respect. It is a Rube Goldberg contraption.
It is the product of Nixon's schemes and McGovern's dreams. And it has worn as well as bell-bottoms and mood rings. In the case of the Republican Party, we will be confronted by a dishonorable nominee chosen by barely five percent of the American Electorate.
This is not the system our Founding Fathers created for us. Far from it. The Electoral College was created for just such an emergency as this. We should explore every reasonable option to avoid being forced to choose the lesser of two weevils.
If ever there was a time for Wise and Honest, it is now. Let's pull back from the abyss before it is too late.
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