Photo by Michael Vadon via Wikimedia Commons, Donald Trump addressing rally in Laconia, New Hampshire, July 16, 2015
In coming days, much will be said and written about the coming administration of America’s new President, Donald J. Trump.
Some of what will be said will be full of praise and anticipation, words extolling the virtues of populism and economic nationalism, pledging a future in which the interests of the people of the United States will be protected.
Others will speak and write about a reversal of America’s fortunes in a world of increasing uncertainty, the rise of a man not qualified to be President, the dividing of the nation into groups marked by race, gender and religion, the separation of America from the partnerships and alliances that have been the cornerstone of US foreign policy for decades.
The words in coming days that will mean the most, and that will likely be the most memorable, will be those of the new President, Donald Trump, as he assumes the office of the presidency and takes control of the White House.
The American people and others around the world will be weighing the new President’s words carefully to see what changes he will make, how he will affect their lives, whether he will be a builder or a warrior, a statesman or a deal-maker.
People everywhere will be waiting to hear if campaign promises and drumbeats on Twitter will become US policy – and if, with the help of a Republican House and Senate, they will become law.
People in the US will be anxious to know how their fortunes will change, how government programs will be affected, how the “swamp will be drained” in a fight against political corruption and bureaucratic inertia – how America will be made great again.
That phrase that marked Trump’s campaign – “Make America Great Again” – will now become the main purpose of the Trump administration, the goal of the US presidency, the mission of the nation’s domestic and foreign policies. It will stimulate the passage of laws, the reorganization of government, policies toward other countries, relations between demographic groups within the American population. As a candidate, Trump had a mission, and as President, he aims to carry it out.
It is truly a momentous time in the history of the United States, a nation that has built itself on values etched into the nation’s constitution, history, legal foundation, and cultural framework. For generations, schoolchildren have memorized the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution guaranteeing the freedoms of press and religion and political association. Those freedoms have been invoked again and again during the past 240 years, reaffirmed in times of war, emphasized in schools and places of worship and social clubs, endlessly debated since the end of the 18th century.
That debate continues today as Americans on every side of every issue prepare for the next four years. Some are confident, others worried, few are without a point of view.
Here are some of the biggest questions that may ultimately define the outcome of Trump’s mission to make America great again.
Will the new president bring America’s diverse communities together in an effort to secure greater racial harmony and religious tolerance? Will women be assured that the gains of the past century will be sustained? Will needed improvements be made in education, and will the economy respond to those who need jobs and health care and a better standard of living? And in foreign affairs, will the United States maintain its leadership role in the world or pull back as it looks inward, making more room for China, and Russia, and disruptive political movements in Europe and the Middle East? How will he reform the immigration system?
The Trump Era, as the coming administration will surely become known, will give people plenty to think about, and talk about. It is a time of change – a dynamic that is never easy. The American people are all the more uneasy because, familiar as they are with the country’s time-honored traditions and values and points of national pride, they will now be committed by the new President to Make America Great Again.
The difficulty, as many have suggested, is that no one is exactly sure what that commitment will achieve – or, for that matter, what those words actually mean. We’re about to find out.
