Public service should matter for presidency

Over the past six years my son Aaron and I have been visiting state capitals throughout the U.S. We’re now at 48 of 50, with only Alaska and Utah to go. This project has provided an opportunity for Aaron, and me, to learn more about the states and regions of this great nation.

Along the way, of course, we visited many historic and natural areas. We also discovered that we were visiting presidential grave sites. Some of them were grand (Grant’s Tomb, in New York City) and some were modest (Coolidge’s simple grave in a rural Vermont cemetery), but they all merited a respectful visit. After all, these men served their nation in its highest office.

And Aaron and I made it a priority to learn about these past presidents. The biographies of some are well-known, but others took some digging. Thank heavens for the Internet; if you want to know the location of Grover Cleveland’s grave, and what it looks like, that information is available at your fingertips (or at least Aaron’s fingertips).

What have we learned? For one thing, each man had a history of substantial public service, in addition to the presidency. Many served in the military, placing the nation’s interests ahead of their personal well-being. All served in other governmental offices, either state or federal, or both. All were willing to put themselves at the service of their fellow citizens.

Which brings me to 2016 and the candidates that Americans have been evaluating. Republican voters apparently have selected Donald Trump as their candidate. If he were to be elected in November, Mr. Trump would be unique among presidents in that he has had no history of public service.

The U.S. Constitution places no experience qualifications, other than reaching age 35. But for me, Mr. Trump’s absence from public service is a major issue. Serving in government or the military, or both, is how one learns to subordinate personal benefit to the larger public good. I feel a president should have some experience with this.

Some argue that Mr. Trump should be opposed because of his attitude toward women, and there seems to be evidence to supports this argument. It will be interesting, to say the least, to see how Mr. Trump interacts with Hillary Clinton if she is the Democratic candidate.

Others argue that Mr. Trump should be opposed because he seems at every turn to provoke and support prejudice against those who are different (that is, non-whites, recent arrivals to the United States, those following certain religions, etc.). They question whether we need a president who promotes prejudice.

These issues about Mr. Trump are important, but they are not my central concern. When we were in Philadelphia this spring, we met a man from Brazil and he asked me about Donald Trump. I thought for a while and answered, “He’s a businessman.”

That summed it up for me. Mr. Trump is a person who has spent his career thinking and planning for what is best for himself and his business — keeping labor and other costs down and profits up. He has no real experience in public service, in acting for the public good.

The consequence of Mr. Trump’s lack of a sense of public good is manifest in multiple ways. He is unwilling, for example, to release his income tax information. This makes sense to a businessman – income and tax information is private. He seems almost unaware of the notion that being open about taxes is for public good.

And then there’s Mr. Trump’s use of insults and humiliation. For some this approach is just “good business;” the goal is winning, after all, not good relationships. But our nation, and hence our president, is the most powerful in the world and in this age of nuclear weapons our president must know how to maintain good relationships. Insult cannot be the norm.

For 225 years, through the collective wisdom of many generations, Americans have never elected as president a person with no experience in public service. I see no benefit in starting a new trend this year.

This story was originally published May 26, 2016 at 6:32 PM with the headline "Public service should matter for presidency."