George Washington reluctantly accepted the will of the people who wanted him to be President. Alexander Hamilton, who agreed with him on very little, asked him to take a second term in those days of uncertainty. Washington believed civil authority was superior to military power. He took office in a brown woolen suit, not as General Washington in uniform, but as a civilian.

Thomas Jefferson hated confrontation so much that he acted differently with the varying personalities he had to confront. Washington, Madison, Hamilton, Burr each saw a different president in Jefferson’s office. Jefferson hated his time in office and left it, returning to Monticello and never leaving Virginia again.

John Adams was criticized for his opulent clothing. He wore the only clothes he had, the ones he wore when he was minister to Britain. He could not afford new clothes as President.

Compare these great presidents to Donald Trump, a man who thinks he controls the armies of the world, who relishes power and wields it unmercifully and perhaps illegally, and who came to office to garner even more wealth.

CHRIS BOWER

Montoursville

Submitted by Virtual Newsroom