Jottings - Slice of life - 427 ( Joe Biden and Kamala Harris - the change of guard at the white house. A few personal thoughts)

“We do not have to become heroes overnight, Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appears, discovering that we have the strength to stare it down.”

Eleanor Roosevelt ( from Doris Kearn’s Brilliant book “ No ordinary time”)

Leaders are often evaluated only in retrospect. While they are in charge, their actions, policies, character, and decisions dissolve into the daily din and grind of living. It is difficult to see their actions in perspective in the present moment; only when they relinquish office the weight of history begins to bear upon them, and their legacy. It is then that people look back upon the tenure that has just passed, and try to understand the impact of the incumbent on the people and the ecosystem, and extricate meaning from the actions taken. It is from this perspective that history is always written, discussed, and passed on to posterity. This pedagogy of assessment, reflection, and judgment of history is as true of a leader managing a company as it is of the President or a Prime minister governing a nation. The yardstick remains the same, only the parameters vary.

The results of the 2020 American Elections are now clear. The winner has surfaced after days of counting mail-in votes, an unusually large number this time due to the pandemic, and predominantly from those voting democrat. Looking at the current numbers, Joe Biden has enough senatorial seats to become the forty-sixth president of the United States of America. I am hesitant to be more emphatic because the race is not yet formally over, and the opposition is preparing a battle on the legality of the electoral transparency — which, on the face of it, doesn’t seem to have any reasonable validity, but the process of litigation, nonetheless, has the potential to delay the official announcement for some more time. The Biden camp and the mainstream media ( including Fox) are sure of the outcome, but President Donald Trump is yet to personally acknowledge. And we hope that he does soon enough for a smooth transition to take place.

As the outcome became clear this morning, I began thinking about the last four years in the history of the United States of America. What essentially went wrong with this presidency? Was it the take on key policies, or the fanatical obsession with “America first” or was it the racial theme that got out of hand? What was it? Let’s make no mistake, Donald Trump got nearly half the country voting for him ( more than seventy-million), and what that indicates is there is nothing wrong with the political stance of Donald Trump and his team. They did well. Joe Biden has the numerical superiority to take over the Presidency, but the margin of win is not high enough to call it an overwhelming national mandate. In each state, the race was tight, and the winner was chosen based on a few thousands of votes. This outcome stresses the point that the nation was deeply divided in choosing their next President on the basis of policy matters, and it must definitely be something about Joe as a person that must have pushed him beyond the finishing line.

When Donald Trump was elected in 2016, the nation knew that he was neither a politician nor did he bring experience of any kind in national governance. His reputation as a hardcore businessman preceded him. He was known for his appearances on reality TV, his bustling commercial empire, and the cut-throat real estate magnate that he was. What was certain about him, and which he undoubtedly made clear during his 2016 campaign was that he was fiercely narcissistic, and projected that narcissism on America as a whole. His campaign speeches whipped up raw passions of economic betrayal, needless marginalization of Americans, dilution of American values, etc. which had remained dormant in vast sections of the population until then. His narrative of America was not of a country that is the cauldron of freedom and opportunity for all, but a walled continent for the pure breed “Americans” only, and nobody else. He did not bother to explain who an “American” is, and how did America even come to exist as a nation. Nobody who listened to his rhetoric during the 2016 campaign questioned him, and Trump chose not to elaborate either. The people who voted him to power liked what they heard, and believed that Trump would somehow magically transform America into a unique paradise in an increasingly globalized world, without losing its core values. The message was alluring, and Americans gave him the mandate in good faith.

The failure of Donald Trump lies in the moral and ethical vacuity of the person he is, and not in his policies. People liked his policies, that’s why more than seventy-million voted for him in 2020. It was Trump’s personality that undid him. As the leader of the free world ( which America still is, no matter what anybody says), Trump was unable to personify the personal qualities needed of a leader. While each leader is unique and usually bring their own persona and style of governance to the role, there is, however, a common denominator of decency, etiquette, and values that hold true no matter who holds such positions. Trump’s brash language, lack of empathy or decency, and more importantly, the inability to think beyond himself — which is one of the primary requirements of a leader, led to his defeat. Even those who had voted him to power last time found his personality too abrasive to give him a second chance. Trump’s personal qualities may be good for a businessman (I don't think so, but to a certain extent — yes), but certainly not desirable in a President. People realized painfully that the image of America to the outside world was at stake, more than anything else; and only a decent, hardworking man who has seen at close quarters the ups and downs of life, who has grown up through the ranks, and understood the basic core values that make America a great nation — can be entrusted this time, with the responsibility to lead America with dignity, respect, and grace. They elected Biden for precisely these reasons. The cause of Trump’s defeat then is Trump himself. That is surely a bitter pill for anyone to swallow.

Both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have their work cut out. It is not going to be easy for them. There is no room or time to settle down. The work must start immediately of uniting the country, beyond party affiliations, and focus on common goals and aspirations. Four years of tumultuous politics, and less of humanitarian measures, has fractured the fabric of this beautiful country, and of course, the immediate priority is the control of the Pandemic - which in the last few days, without anyone quite paying as much attention as we should, has risen sharply as predicted by our Medical experts. One thing is immediately clear, and that is the presence of Joe Biden has a calming influence. Our nerves settle down when we hear words of empathy and inclusiveness. And there is all of those 77 years of wisdom that shines through the man. As for Kamala Harris, we are proud beyond words. She may be of Indian descent, but she is quintessentially American, and a highly accomplished person in her own field.

I am going stop writing now, and head to my couch to watch the President-elect and Vice President-elect speak at the Chase Center at Wilmington. The first victory speech is a momentous occasion always, and our prayers and wishes to the new government.

God bless…

yours in mortality,

Bala