President's Perspective

There is no getting around the fact that we are currently a deeply divided nation. I’m sure we were all horrified when a mob attacked our nation’s Capitol as legislators inside attempted to certify the electoral ballots for the presidency.

In a democracy such as ours, there is perhaps no greater offense to our ideals than an attempt to subvert the legitimate results of a free and fair election. But this is hardly the first time America has been divided. Our nation was almost torn in two during the cataclysm of the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln spoke eloquently about the meaning of union during that time of division, and his words can still serve as consolation and inspiration today.

On the battlefield of Gettysburg, he gave the Gettysburg Address, one of the great presidential speeches in our history. Lincoln and the nation had much to mourn at Gettysburg, and we also have much to mourn.

Too many taken too soon because of COVID-19. In addition to the hundreds of thousands of deaths, the virus has laid bare the systemic inequality that afflicts the nation. We have had to witness too much political hatred and political violence.

And that is leaving aside the many long-term issues that remain unaddressed — a more generous safety net for all Americans, a higher minimum wage, better health care, greater access to education, more robust protections for the environment, humane immigration policies, to name only a few of the pressing issues facing America.

We may disagree about the particulars of what should be done, but the vast majority of Americans would agree that something needs to be done.

Even as I list the problems facing us, though, I am inspired by Lincoln’s example at Gettysburg. He did not give way to despair. He looked out across his audience and called on them to dedicate themselves “to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.”

That unfinished work is now our burden — and our privilege — to bear.