I am not old enough to remember President Harry Truman, but I have seen several pictures of him sitting at his desk. If you look closely, you’ll see a wooden desk sign with these words: “The buck stops here.”
Every time I was in a leadership role, I remembered those words. I have admired leaders who take responsibility for their actions and for the actions of those under them. I have also seen too many people in leadership positions who never took any responsibility for their actions or anyone else’s. Those people always seem to take credit for anything good that happens, whether they were involved or not.
Since Truman, we have had President Dwight Eisenhower, who knew he was responsible for all that happened on his watch. President John F. Kennedy took the blame for the botched Cuban invasion, which was planned during Eisenhower’s final months. President Richard Nixon broke the rule on occasion. President Jimmy Carter took the blame for everything when he should not have. Most of us remember President Ronald Reagan taking the blame for the Iran-Contra scandal and a few other mistakes. Even President Bill Clinton learned early to absorb blame in order to get credit. Both Bushes fell on their swords for things they didn’t have control over. President Barack Obama’s trials and tribulations didn’t rise to the levels that occurred during the terms of previous presidents, but he apologized for the deaths of the American personnel in Benghazi, though the U.S. ambassador knew the risks of going.
Our current president has never taken responsibility for any failures of his doing, but has smeared and blamed everyone else for any perceived error. He can’t restrain himself—nor can anyone else restrain him from lashing out in an unpresidential insulting smear. He just won’t take responsibility for anything he or his people do.
He may be the elected president, but he definitely isn’t presidential.
— Chuck Johnson, Morris
Note from KBJ: Millions of Americans disagree with you, Chuck. We think President Trump is eminently presidential, so much so that we're going to re-elect him! Suck it up.
