An Obituary for Three Political Icons

America is a complicated country, and aside from elections, nowhere is that more apparent than when we mourn or celebrate the death of a political icon. Well, this week, we’ve got three.

We are the best and the worst of ourselves

Books have been written about our faults and our flaws, and as many about our virtues and our strengths. Depending on which side of the political aisle you’re on, today you have to choose: America can’t get anything right, or America can do no wrong.

The truth, as often happens, is much more complicated. We are both the best and the worst versions of ourselves. We are no more defined by every failure we’ve ever had than every success. Three political icons have died this week. Each person, like the responses to their deaths, showcases a part of Americans view of themselves and provides a window into our political moment.

Sandra Day O’Connor: First Woman on the Supreme Court

Sandra Day O’Connor, whose death was announced this morning, was an icon, no really, she’s in the game Icons. As the first woman on the Supreme Court, she gave some voice to women in professional roles. Known for her moderate to conservative views, O’Connor had some controversies (like when she was disappointed that Al Gore was announced the winner in the 2000 election and then went on to steer the Court’s vote in favor of Bush in Bush v Gore).

Her work with judicial selection has been used as a template for helping increase legitimacy of the judicial branch through use of different selection processes. O’Connor founded one of my favorite educational platforms, iCivics, which helps educators teach the political processes.

O’Connor will be remembered for her groundbreaking work on the Court, but also for her independent spirit and willingness to go beyond politics and do what was right. Her death has sparked much commemoration on social media. While not being as memorialized as Ruth Badger Ginsburg, her place in history is assured and deserved.

First Lady Rosalynn Carter: An Icon of Good

First Lady Rosalynn Carter passed away on November 19th. Unlike O’Connor, to many people under the age of 45, Carter is not widely celebrated or remembered for her work, but she should be. While the political punchline that Jimmy Carter had a miserable presidency and an epic post-presidency is true, Mrs. Carter’s successes spanned a lot longer.

President Carter described her this way, “Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished.”

In her unassuming way, Mrs. Carter revolutionized the role of the First Lady as a policy mentor, helped drive legislation to promote mental health, protected our national parks, and served as a diplomat along with President Carter. In addition to his post-Presidency, her tenure after being First Lady included helping found the Carter Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to peace and human rights, and working with Habitat for Humanity to help build homes.

In an era where so many politicians hollowly claim the mantle of Christianity, the Carters steady, quiet, and relentless pursuit of good for all people stands apart in our political culture. They showed us what we can be. They illustrated the kind of commitment to “knowing a Christian by their acts” that any politician who wants to use religion in campaigns should do. Being a “conspicuous Christian” isn’t just about showing up at church, wearing a cross, and hating the right people. It’s about doing the work. You know a tree by the fruit it bears, and the Carters orchard is full of faith, hope, and love.

Politicians who claim a religious mantle should be held to the Carter Standard—I want to see them building homes, working for peace, and encouraging justice. Otherwise, it’s just bluster. Faith becomes nothing more than Santa Claus: if we are good enough of the time, we don’t get the sulfur. As the Carters showed, faith requires something of us. It requires us to push ourselves to do good, even when it is difficult and impossible.

But as importantly to the American cultural moment that is so full of apathy, they showed us that we can do good. Our work is meaningful, and if we are guided by faith and supported by love, then our hopes can turn into realities.

My thoughts on Mrs. Carter are widely shared, as often happens when a former First Lady passes. To even mention the next political icon in the same article would cause some to give me the side-eye, which is fair. Henry Kissinger should only ever be mentioned in conjunction with Rosalynn Carter to illustrate the two poles of the human approach to power.

Kissinger: American Supremacist

My Linked In profile has been bipolar in its view of Kissinger. The mainstream foreign policy and governmental institutions I follow “mourn” and “praise” the “icon” while the activists, teachers, and historians I follow celebrate the death of the “war criminal.” If you’re looking for praise of Kissinger, you might as well skip to the end.

Kissinger was such a miserable example of American supremacy that the podcast Behind the Bastards which discusses histories baddies did a six-part series on him. For reference, other baddies got one episode, maybe two.

While the Carters were out there sowing peace and all that “woke” agenda stuff, Kissinger was laying the groundwork for genocide in Cambodia, insurrection and mass murder in Argentina, and disastrous policies in Africa. In one of his last speeches, he discussed the decline of democracy, and I like to hope that somewhere between there and his deathbed he recognized his outsized role in that process.

Kissinger’s family fled the Nazis and found a home in the United States. On the outside, it should look like a classic, “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” American melting pot, nation of immigrants tale. But whether from his own trauma or an innate sense of supremacy, Kissinger buddied up to US military might and used to to inflict suffering on much of the world, including Americans, in the name of the American Century.

If the O’Connor’s legacy is a complicated but solid ally for women, and Rosalynn Carter’s is and advocate for justice, Kissinger’s is a body count.

America the Complicated

We’re a complicated country. We declared ourselves free while allowing people to own other people. We weren’t sure which side to join in WWII because there were a lot of fascists in the US, but eventually we did fight against fascism while simultaneously interning Japanese Americans (and Japanese South Americans). These legacies must be reckoned with and dealt with honestly if we are to move forward and “rise up to live out the true meaning of our creed.” Times like these give us an opportunity to reflect on our legacy and who we want to be.

At the end of things, death moves us because it gives us perspective, a reminder that the good and the harm we do will outlive us. In this time of growing difficulty and instability, who we mourn and how we mourn them are revealing about our political culture and our future.

I don’t know about you, but I’ll light a candle for Mrs. Carter and our country and our world.