Presidential Centers Issue Joint Statement Urging Civility in Politics to Protect Democracy

The Big Picture –
By Glynn Wilson –

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A bland joint statement from a group of presidential centers made national news on Thursday warning about a threat to the future of democracy even though it overwhelmingly avoids identifying the real problem or recommending any solutions.

The New York Times produced a story covering the statement, calling it “rare” and “anodyne,” even though the best we can tell, it is not only rare but a first and is made up of boilerplate language that accomplishes nothing.

In the statement, which was apparently the idea of someone at the George W. Bush Presidential Center and published on the center’s website, avoids mentioning former President Donald Trump or his propaganda misleading members of the public into believing he won the 2020 election, even though all the evidence proves he did not.

“Each of us has a role to play and responsibilities to uphold,” the statement reads. “Our elected officials must lead by example and govern effectively in ways that deliver for the American people. This, in turn, will help to restore trust in public service. The rest of us must engage in civil dialogue; respect democratic institutions and rights; uphold safe, secure and accessible elections; and contribute to local, state or national improvement.”

Never mind that when he was president, Bush misled the American people into supporting a war in Iraq based on false intelligence, and other Republicans are getting onboard Trump’s false narrative about the 2020 election to support their own ambitions for higher office.

“The statement is largely anodyne in its prose and is careful not to include specific examples that could seem to refer to a current or a former elected leader,” the Times story reads. “But some of its wording, and its timing, appear to serve as a subtle rebuke of former President Donald J. Trump, who tried to overturn the last presidential election, continues to deny he lost and is now the Republican front-runner for 2024, even as he faces four criminal indictments.”

The Eisenhower Foundation was the only organization in the lineage of presidents from Hoover to Obama to not sign the statement. The organization did not detail its reasoning. No centers, libraries or legacy-type organizations with ties to Trump signed the statement. The former president does not have a foundation or a library.

The idea originated at the George W. Bush Presidential Center earlier this year, according to David J. Kramer, the executive director of the Bush Institute. Leadership at the center drafted the original statement and asked the others to sign on. A few centers offered small edits.

“We just felt that there was a growing need to step back from the day-to-day headlines and, amid all the attention, remind ourselves of who we are, what makes us a great nation and that we’re rooted in an idea of freedom and democracy,” Kramer said in an interview.

“It’s not about an individual, it’s not about one candidate or campaign,” Kramer added. “We just wanted to sort of stay at a higher level, and that’s how we were able to get pretty much all the centers united behind us.”

But some of the language in the statement could easily be read as warnings about Trump. The coalition says that “civility and respect in political discourse” are “essential,” a contrast for a politician known for demeaning nicknames and occasionally violent messaging.

Other ideals expressed in the statement, such as a sense of global responsibility, also seem targeted more toward the Republican base, voters who are more energized by “America First” messaging — a theme pressed by Trump and repeated by many of his rivals for the Republican nomination.

“Americans have a strong interest in supporting democratic movements and respect for human rights around the world because free societies elsewhere contribute to our own security and prosperity here at home,” the statement reads. “But that interest is undermined when others see our own house in disarray. The world will not wait for us to address our problems, so we must both continue to strive toward a more perfect union and help those abroad looking for U.S. leadership.”

Presidential historians note that the joint statement is unusual.

“You see former presidents typically attending events together, such as, for example, after the passing of former President George H.W. Bush,” said Meena Bose, a presidential historian and an executive dean at Hofstra University. “But to have the centers unite, this institutionalizes the significance of bipartisan commitment.”

“It gives both personal and institutional force to the statement,” she added.

Kramer said the idea had been percolating around the Bush Center for a while. However, when he joined the center in January, momentum grew within the organization to put out a bipartisan and nonpartisan message reaffirming what distinguishes American democracy and has helped it function for more than 245 years.

Valerie Jarrett, a former senior adviser to Obama and the chief executive of the Obama Foundation, pointed to the caustic political discourse dominating modern campaigns, saying a unified front was essential.

“There is a toxicity to the climate right now that is inconsistent with a strong democracy,” Jarrett said in an interview. “Open and fair elections, smooth and orderly transition of power, observance of the rule of law: These are foundational pillars of democracy. And so if you had asked me 10 years ago, Would we be really focusing our effort on ensuring that our democracy is strong? A lot of the activities that we do are designed to strengthen it, but we wouldn’t have called it out as an issue that’s under attack.”

There was no mention of the role social media plays in spreading misinformation, and no mention that social media companies including Twitter, Meta, Google and YouTube have lifted restrictions on users posting misleading, false information ahead of the 2024 election. And there is no rebuke of right-wing media outlets that show bias on a daily basis toward Republicans and also spread the lies, especially Fox News.

The full list of signatories:

The Obama Presidential Center

George W. Bush Presidential Center

Clinton Presidential Center

George & Barbara Bush Foundation

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute

The Carter Center

Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation

Richard Nixon Foundation

LBJ Foundation

John F. Kennedy Library Foundation

Truman Library Institute