Brookings resident Carl Kline is an ordained clergyman, part-time teacher and occasional blogger.

I’m thinking about presidential elections this morning. We’ve had some difficult times as a country and some difficult election cycles. But there has also been a spirit of working together for the greater good. Here are a few examples.

In the presidential election of 1800, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr received the same number of electoral votes, throwing the election into the House of Representatives. Alexander Hamilton played an important role in determining the outcome in favor of Jefferson, even though Jefferson was his adversary. This was the first peaceful transfer of power after a democratic election.

John Adams, the former president and of a different party, wrote Jefferson: “This part of the union is in a state of perfect tranquility and I see nothing to obscure your prospect of a quiet and prosperous administration, which I heartily wish you.”

Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg, shortly after a terrible bloodbath in the Civil War, reminded us we were: ““Dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” That we were a nation “conceived in liberty.” He reminded the union of the foundation on which it was built, a “government of the people, by the people, and for the people,” that it should not “perish from the earth.” The nation was for everyone.

Some will remember the presidential election between Al Gore and George W. Bush. It ended without a winner in the electoral college, although Gore won the popular vote; and all eyes turned to a manual recount of votes in Florida. Before that count was completed, the Supreme Court stepped in and by a 5/4 decision gave the presidency to Bush. Although Gore had serious reservations about the Supreme Court action before the votes in Florida were fully counted, he took the high road and conceded. He wished his adversary “Godspeed” and dropped any challenge. Gore believed the good of the country, after five weeks of indecision, demanded his stepping aside.

George W. Bush in his State of the Union address called for working together for the American people: “Each of us is guided by our own convictions — and to these we must stay faithful. Yet we’re all held to the same standards, and called to serve the same good purposes. … We’re not the first to come here with a government divided and uncertainty in the air. Like many before us, we can work through our differences, and achieve big things for the American people. Our citizens don’t much care which side of the aisle we sit on — as long as we’re willing to cross that aisle when there is work to be done. Our job is to make life better for our fellow Americans, and to help them to build a future of hope and opportunity — and this is the business before us tonight.”

After the 1960 presidential election, then Vice President Richard Nixon wrote John F. Kennedy: “I want to repeat through this wire the congratulations and best wishes I extended to you on television last night. I know that you will have the united support of all Americans as you lead the nation in the cause of peace and freedom in the next four years.”

President Gerald Ford congratulated President Jimmy Carter after his election. He wrote: “It is apparent now that you have won our long and intense struggle for the presidency. I congratulate you on your victory. As one who has been honored to serve the people of this great land, both in Congress and as president, I believe that we must now put the divisions of the campaign behind us and unite the country once again in the common pursuit of peace and prosperity. Although there will continue to be disagreements over the best means to use in pursuing our goals, I want to assure you that you will have my complete and wholehearted support as you take the oath of office this January.”

President Carter tried to model the things he believed were important, in working with Congress and for the American people. “What are the things that you can’t see that are important? I would say justice, truth, humility, service, compassion, love. You can’t see any of those, but they’re the guiding lights of a life.”

President Kennedy included the following words in a speech at American University: “And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.”

And his brother Robert said: “When you teach a man to hate and fear his brother; when you teach that he is a lesser man because of his color or his beliefs or the policies he pursues, when you teach that those who differ from you threaten your freedom or your job or your family, then you also learn to confront others not as fellow citizens but as enemies.

We must admit the vanity of our false distinctions among men and learn to find our own advancement in the search for the advancement of all. We must admit in ourselves that our own children’s future cannot be built on the misfortune of others. We must recognize that this short life can neither be ennobled nor enriched by hatred or revenge.”

Fast forward to 2024. What happened? The big lie! Jan. 6. And just a few quotations from the Republican frontrunner.

“We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country,” (And try my former Joint Chief of Staff, General Milley, for treason).

“Any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion, They hate everything about Israel, and they should be ashamed of themselves.”

“Now if I don’t get elected, it’s gonna be a bloodbath for the whole — that’s gonna be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country.”

“I don’t think you’re going to have another election in this country, if we don’t win this election… certainly not an election that’s meaningful.”