Presidential centers call to protect democracy
Foundations join together, seeking civility
A coalition representing nearly every former president from Herbert Hoover to Barack Obama issued a collective call on Thursday to protect the foundations of American democracy and maintain civility in the nation’s politics.
The alliance of presidential centers and foundations for US leaders dating back nearly a century, both Democrats and Republicans, is a historic first. Never before has such a broad coalition of legacy institutions from former administrations joined together on a single issue.
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. But some of its wording, and its timing, appear to serve as a subtle rebuke of former president Donald 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.
“Each of us has a role to play and responsibilities to uphold,” the statement says. “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.”
The Eisenhower Foundation was the only organization in the lineage of presidents from Hoover to Obama to not sign the statement. No centers, libraries, or legacy-type organizations with ties to Trump signed the statement; the former president does not have a foundation or library.
The idea originated at the George W. Bush Presidential Center earlier this year, according to David J. Kramer, executive director of the George W. 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 US leadership.”
Presidential historians note that the joint statement is unusual.
“To have the centers unite, this institutionalizes the significance of bipartisan commitment,” said Meena Bose, a presidential historian and an executive dean at Hofstra University.