(Todd A. Smith)
President Joe Biden is not a popular president by any poll or measurement.
Fortunately for him and America, leadership is not about popularity.
It is about making the right decisions and putting the people they serve before themselves.
For that reason alone, President Biden will go down as the most important president of the 21st century.
Although Americans do not appreciate him now, if he saves American democracy and protects our brethren in Europe from the brutal Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, history books will remember him fondly like they do when they address the administrations of former President Franklin D. Roosevelt and former President Lyndon B. Johnson.
During former President Donald Trump’s presidency, anyone not brainwashed by the former cult leader in chief could see how he favored autocracy over democracy.
Despite America being created to escape the British monarchy, fake patriots from the current MAGA Republican Party salivated over every word Trump said no matter how un-American, un-democratic or unconstitutional.
Furthermore, many so-called evangelical Christians even said that if people voted against Trump, then they were not Christian as if rape, calling for violence and idolatry has anything to do with the Bible or Jesus Christ.
Americans watched how Trump tried to steal the 2020 presidential election from Biden.
And when he could not accomplish his dictatorial dreams nonviolently, Trump encouraged a mob of traitorous thugs to inflict violence to steal our beloved democracy from the real patriots of the country, those who believe in the results at the ballot box as opposed to those who only believe the results if their party or candidates win.
But as bad as it got during Trump’s presidency, it has gotten worse in his efforts to regain the White House for a second non-consecutive term.
He has admitted he will be a dictator on day one of a new term.
He has vowed to seek revenge and retribution on his so-called political enemies.
He has threatened the news media.
And he has vowed to not assist NATO countries if Putin and Russia invade their land.
In fact, Trump said he would encourage Putin to invade those European countries.
There was once a time when presidents stood up to dictators and war criminals.
There was a time when presidents stood up to those who abused their power with violence.
And there was a time when presidents protected their allies just like our allies have supported us in the past, like after Sept. 11.
But then there came Trump, who cares nothing about our country, other sovereign countries or other people (including his cult followers).
He is supposedly a leader.
However, he puts himself before the people he oversaw in leading.
Like the dictators that he worships, he is a tiny man with a fragile ego that needs others to praise him for him to feel worthy.
His entire second presidency would be dedicated to him getting revenge and eroding everything that our beautiful democracy is supposed to stand for.
On the other hand, there is Biden.
Like all presidents and other politicians, he has not gotten everything right.
But he has gotten the most important part right.
And that is the president’s job is to protect democracy and the freedom of all Americans, not just those who support him or blindly worships him.
A true president stands up to those who threaten the livelihood of the country, not those who voted against him or held him accountable for his crimes.
While Trump has kissed Putin’s ring and gotten on his knees whenever Putin felt some kinda way, Biden has been forceful in his rebuke of Putin.
He has sanctioned Putin’s regime.
He has supported our allies when Putin violated their rights.
And he always vows to put his country before himself.
This election cycle will go a long way in determining the future of democracy around the world.
Will America as we know it survive or will a wannabe dictator turn it into his own personal kingdom with no regard to its principles and values?
Will Putin be able to march across Europe and take over sovereign countries?
Will Trump’s appeasement for Trump lead to World War III because there is no way that sovereign European countries will just hand over their countries over to a weakling like Putin?
And if Trump regains office, what side will American be on in future history books?
Just imagine if America had sided with Adolf Hitler during World War II.
We would have never become the greatest country on the planet, just another evil empire that eventually faded into obscurity.
Although Biden’s presides over a polarized nation, historians show more love to Biden’s accomplishments than many voters and media members.
The 46th President of the United States ranks 14th best president of all time according to historians, while his predecessor ranks dead last, no doubt in part because of his mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic and his attempt to overthrow democracy and steal the White House from his successor.
Trump even ranked lower than presidents who failed to stop the Civil War.
Justin Vaughn and Brandon Rottinghaus, the political scientists who conducted the presidential survey, wrote in the Los Angeles Times that “Biden’s most important achievements may be that he rescued the presidency from Trump, resumed a more traditional style 0f presidential leadership and is gearing up to keep the office out of his predecessor’s hands this fall.”
Rottinghaus (University of Houston) and Vaughn (Coastal Carolina University) based their rankings on responses from 154 scholars.
