Threat To American Democracy

The United States has had many periods of political corruption on the national level in its nearly 250 year history.

It is clear that at least six Presidents–all coincidentally Republicans–have presided over high levels of corruption.

In the Gilded Age 1870s, under President Ulysses S. Grant, there was the first example of a widespread corruption, generally called the Credit Mobilier Scandal, but encompassing much more than that specific scandal. However, there is no indication that Grant personally was involved, but he is criticized for having made poor choices for appointees to various cabinet and other positions. The corruption helped to lead to the Civil Service reform bill known as the Pendleton Act of 1883.

Approximately a half century later, under President Warren G. Harding in his brief less than two and a half year administration, the most prominent scandal was known as the Teapot Dome Scandal, but the level of corruption was much greater than just that, with three key Cabinet and other appointees involved in major scandals. Additionally, and not known at the time, Harding had his own personal scandals, and he was judged the worst President of the 20th century, due to his incompetence and poor judgment. His successor, Calvin Coolidge, cleaned up the scandals, instead of trying to cover them up.

Until the time of Donald Trump, clearly, under President Richard Nixon in the 1970s, there were more scandals and abuse of power, most famously known as the Watergate Scandal, than any other President. Nixon was the first President who was clearly involved on a personal level in many of the scandals and indictments of his Presidency. The fortunate development, however, was that his own Republican Party held Nixon accountable, as he faced impeachment, and he resigned from office, succeeded by Gerald Ford, who elevated the level of the Presidential office.

During the 1980s, under President Ronald Reagan, there were a whole series of scandals, with the best known being the Iran-Contra Scandal, but with Reagan claiming no knowledge, and apparently not directly involved in them, but plenty of indictments and some convictions, with Reagan giving the excuse that he was not aware of malfeasance, and being given a pass, as many observers thought there were signs of mental deterioration in his second term. Reagan’s personal popularity also aided him in overcoming accusations, as suggestions of moving toward impeachment did not have much support.

Then, under George W. Bush in the early 2000s, there were plenty of examples of abuse of power, particularly surrounding the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, but also the indictments of many people appointed by Bush, and also, the perceived abuses of power by Vice President Dick Cheney. But suggestions of impeachment were pushed to the side, despite much conflict and concerns at the time.

Despite all of these earlier Presidential scandals, it has been much greater under Donald Trump in his first term, with him being impeached twice; inciting the US Capitol Insurrection of January 6, 2021; facing indictments on four different cases after leaving office; being convicted on one set of charges involving financial matters; and yet, protected by the Supreme Court in Trump V US in July 2024, giving him ability to evade responsibility for his actions.

And now, in his second term, Trump is abusing power in ways far greater than his first term, and yet, so far, he seems to be moving toward authoritarian control, and American democracy is in crisis, as he looks to go after his enemies, and purge what he calls “the deep state”!

Trump’s use of pardons and clemency, and his setting a record for massive executive orders, along with many incompetent appointments, and indication that he plans to disobey any federal court orders, is an alarm bell of troubles ahead!

Some readers of this blog entry might think it is unfair to label these six Republican Presidents as scandalous, and ignore Democratic Presidents.

But the record, at most, shows comparatively minor “scandals” under Democratic Presidents, nothing on the level of these six Republican Preaidents, with Jimmy Carter, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden having nothing substantial occurring during their administrations, despite Republican attempts to besmirch them. And Bill Clinton’s major scandal was his private love life, which was exposed and reprehensible, but does not match the government corruption under the six named Republican Presidents above.

And notice, not included as having major scandals are Republicans Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, and George H. W. Bush.