I can’t let go of that infamous press conference of November 7, 2018, when Donald J Trump, acting in the role of President of the Untied States, lashed out in fury at reporters who sought answers from him about his actions and his policies.
I’ve previously spoken to the substance of that occasion. But in continuing to think about it, I couldn’t help contrasting this man’s conduct when confronted with difficult questions with the way REAL presidents handled such situations.
Take a moment and watch the way Ronald Reagan responded at a press conference during the height of the Iran-Contra affair, the most difficult time of his presidency.
In order to get Iran to use its influence on Hezbollah, the Lebanese terrorist organization, to free American citizens it was holding in captivity as hostages, President Reagan had secretly authorized the shipment of U S arms to Iran, a violation of his own policy of imposing an embargo on arms sales to Iran.
When the word got out there was a huge public reaction against such an action and against the president who had authorized it.
Impeachment was in the air.
At a major news conference he held to take questions on the subject, the press “bombardment” was unrelenting. One after the other, Chris Wallace of NBC, Sam Donaldson of ABC, Bill Plante of CBS, and Charles Bierbauer of CNN, put the difficult questions to him.
Here is the link to what happed.
Yes, he “dodged” and “weaved” in his answers – later as the scandal continued he was more forthcoming and by finally admitting what he had authorized he escaped impeachment. I am not posting this as a example of how a president should “come clean” about difficult matters,
I am posting it to show how a REAL president (one who understands the need to show dignity and civility in public) conducts himself (herself) under the most trying of circumstances. It’s called “grace under pressure,” Kennedy had it and except for this man every president I have known has had it.
We will have a REAL president again. Continue to work hard for that day. Continue to be outraged at the conduct of the man who now inhabits the Oval Office.
When I covered Ronald Reagan as the White House Correspondent for ABC News, I did not think he did everything right or that his policies in every respect were the best ones for the Country.
But looking back at that time and that president, given what we see before us now, the old saying is so true:
“You never know how good you have it until its gone!”