What Might Have Been?

Every so often a politician appears whose force of personality can motivate huge segments of the population. Their words inspire, they promise changes many want, they shape the mindset of those who listen.
 
Sometimes they become president. I think Teddy Roosevelt was such a person.
 
There have been other charismatic leaders in more recent times. I believe we could place Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and Barack Obama in that category. I don’t agree with all their agendas, but there is no denying each had the personality to make a distinctive impression and forge a large following.
 
I believe there’s another who could be added to the list.
 
Donald J. Trump.
 
Readers of this space know what I think of him. But it would be foolish to deny the sway he holds over a large percentage of our citizens. So much so that they will believe lies, invade buildings, restrict voting, and reject any moral training they may have received as youngsters.
 
I first started to think about this posting by wondering what might have been had Trump chosen to use his motivational talents in a different way. Could he have inspired our nation to reach new heights? If so, would he have become the “great” president he so often proclaimed himself to be instead of one of the worst in our history?
 
I pondered this—for a very short time. Then I realized there was no way he could have achieved greatness of the sort I envision. Those other presidents I’ve mentioned instigated changes in society, some good and some bad. But all reflecting a goal that was bigger than the man himself.
 
Everything Trump espoused was motivated by no higher ideal than his personal gratification. I don’t believe he has any concept of “the greater good.”
 
Furthermore, I began to realize a worthier message, if he had had one, would not have resonated with a large percentage of the folks he has bound to his deity. Either by design or by luck, he tapped into the racism that had laid largely hidden in our land and tacitly gave it permission to rise to the highest level we have seen in decades.
 
I’ve come to believe I was wrong to even consider the possibility that Trump could have performed on a higher plane. He simply doesn’t have the moral basis for it, and he could have achieved little without his message of hate that appealed to so many who would have felt at home when slavery ruled the South. His motivational talents were doomed to be wasted.
 
I hope it will not be too long before some new charismatic correct-thinking messenger appears who can rally the populace to the greater good and inspire us all to treasure the workings of our democracy.
 
Unfortunately, I don’t think that person is President Biden. Biden seems like a decent and competent man and I am relieved he is our president. But I feel he is not truly inspirational.
 
He makes wonderful speeches and delivers them well. They are intellectual well thought out logical addresses. I like them. However, it seems to me they lack the emotional approach and appeal that will sway minds not originally aligned with his.
 
Can anyone rise to fill that gap in time to save our country? Kamala Harris? Maybe. Pete Buttigieg? Maybe. Amy Klobuchar? Maybe.
 
Is there anyone else on the horizon?
 
I can only hope.