The Founding Fathers knew enough about the evils of monarchy to not want one for the new American republic. Prior to Washington’s election, they seriously debated what to call the new chief executive of the United States of America.
As Lorraine Boissoneault writes in Smithsonianmag.com:
Some delegates to the Constitutional Convention suggested “His Exalted Highness,” with others chiming in with the more democratic “His Elective Highness.” Other suggestions included the formal “Chief Magistrate” and the lengthy “His Highness the President of the United States of America, and Protector of Their Liberties.” The debate went on for multiple weeks, according to historian Kathleen Bartoloni-Tuazon, because the House of Representatives worried that too grand a title might puff Washington up with power, while the Senate feared Washington would be derided by foreign powers if saddled with something as feeble as “president” (the title originally meant, simply, one who presides over a body of people‑‑similar to “foreman”).
Of course, “president” won out.
Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution states that “No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States.” Alexander Hamilton called the clause a “cornerstone of republican government,” saying that without titles of nobility, “there can never be serious danger that the government will be anything other than that of the people.”
And now it seems we’ve come full circle. We have a president who wants nothing more than to be a monarch … if not in name, then in deed.
During a press briefing earlier this week, Trump declared, “When somebody’s the president of the United States, the authority is total, and that’s the way it’s got to be.” On Wednesday, Trump threatened to adjourn both houses of Congress.
By now it should be clear that Donald J. Trump does not understand (or respect) the meaning of constitutional democracy. He does not see himself so much as the head of one branch of government, the executive, but as the supreme authority in the land.
And if he is reelected in November, you can be sure his thirst for autocratic power will only increase.
What’s there to stop Trump from issuing an executive order naming himself “El Exigente” (Wait, maybe not. Too Mexican)? The Constitution? Yeah right!
With the other two “co-equal” branches of government asleep at the wheel, failing in their constitutional duty to check a wannabe dictator like Trump, four more years of the corrupt Trump regime would effectively end that great experiment in constitutional self-governance envisioned by the Founding Fathers. And it would bring about what they feared most for the new nation … that it would collapse into tyranny.
You’ve heard it all too often … the next presidential election is the most important of our lifetimes. It’s become an election year cliché.
But here’s the thing … the upcoming presidential election will not just be the most important of our lifetimes. It will also be the most consequential election in the 243-year-old lifespan of our nation. You think that’s hyperbole?
On November 3, 2020, we are either going to elect a new president or have our first king (though some might argue, and happily I might add, that Trump has already secured that distinction).
Photo | businessinsider.com
