Today’s is Presidents Day. I had another email in mind and was going to just skip writing something about Presidents Day until I thought about it for a few minutes.
First, I thought about how for most people I know, Presidents Day is more of a nuisance holiday. The stores are pushing sales, the kids are out of school and parents still have to work, and the President is someone who gets made fun of on Saturday Night Live.
But after those thoughts passed, I began thinking of all the great men that have served as President of the United States. Men who blazed trails and helped our country go from a third world country to the leader of the free world. Men who stood up to evil in many forms over the centuries. Men who made impossible decisions under dire circumstances. Men who made an entire nation believe in the good of people and our ability to help others.
I began thinking of FDR, Lincoln, JFK, George Washington, and all the others that immediately pop into your head when you hear President.
When I decided I wanted to write something was when I started thinking of all the rest of the Presidents. Regardless of your politics, you have to have a tremendous amount of respect for the President.
The amount of pressure that this person is under at any given point is almost mind boggling to think about. Just the decision about how many and where to deploy our troops would be enough to make any normal person crumble.
I have personally made a concerted effort to be less cynical about politics lately. Sure, it is an imperfect system of imperfect individuals and a lot of the actions taken are less than ideal (to say the least). Part of being less cynical about politics is a conscious decision to respect the office of President of the United States, regardless of who is in office.
Remember today to, at the very least, be thankful to live in such a great country with a President that is doing his best for all of us, every day.
Jake
