We Will Survive

By BECKY NELSON
Bramblings
Thursday, May 30, was an interesting day. Short staffed at the store with several employees either working other jobs, home with medical needs or off on vacations, I was left to run the store myself. I spend most of my time either on the farm doing farm chores, working with the books and paperwork of the enterprise or running farm errands. Working at the store is a daily thing for me with set up and breakdowns for the day, but I am not usually behind the counter. It was a good experience, seeing some of my old “friends” from being a salesperson more frequently and being able to tackle some projects at the building that have been put off for a spell. It was different.

After my work at the store, I trekked to Manchester with a water test, then on to a supplier to buy farm supplies in a southern New Hampshire town. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant new to us in Concord, then traveled on for our southern drop off and pick up. We saw old friends at the supply store and had a brief and very pleasant interaction at the water lab. I was glad to be doing something a little different than the usual daily grind, and it gave my co-pilot (husband) and I a chance to chat that we don’t often have during a busy workday. Again, it was different.

We listen to the radio a lot when on the road, usually a sports or talk show format, and were listening to a National Public Radio broadcast when the jury in the trial of the former president, Donald Trump, returned to the courtroom and returned a guilty verdict. A former president was convicted of a federal crime. It was historic verdict in a historic trial of a former United States president … unheard of until now. The day certainly was different.

I was a bit shocked, actually, and immediately thought of all kinds of ramifications this verdict might have in the very divisive political climate in which we are now trying to find some respite from the hot rhetoric and chilly interactions between political pundits and politicians themselves. It is certainly not the first time there have been allegations thrown at presidents, with some impeached, some accused of crimes leading to resignations, and others convicted in the court of opinion, but none so groundbreaking and significant as the conviction of Donald Trump. Everyone’s particular political thoughts and beliefs aside, Thursday was different, and historic. I wondered if I dared write about the verdict in my column. But it was a historic occurrence, and I couldn’t look away.

As I began writing this column, I inquired of Google what other significant things happened in history on May 30. I was very interested to learn that Andrew Jackson, the seventh United States President whose likeness is seen almost every day by every American on the $20 bill, actually killed a man in a duel on May 30, 1806, a couple of decades before he was elected president. His leadership in a time of much political turmoil and change left a lasting legacy on our nation, including the two-party political system we now still work in, despite his taking another man’s life. In the days of settling heated arguments with a potentially life ending duel, Jackson was known to have taken part in at least three duels, with only the May 30 one ending in physical harm. Jackson was shot in the chest (he carried the bullet in his chest to his dying day) and he shot his opponent in the chest (he died as a result). Judging this exchange by today’s standards, it could have been charged as manslaughter, if not murder. Jackson achieved some lasting important moves in our nation, and this history just shows me that our presidents were not always nice guys; some did some pretty horrific things and slung some pretty nasty mud at each other, not unlike modern times. I am no fan of the mudslinging and the allegations of shady stuff being thrown by each candidate in our next presidential election, but it is nothing new in the American political scene, and we have survived as a nation each time. I think we all need to turn to the history books for some enlightenment, if not some comfort in our messy political history. We have survived.

All this stuff made me think about the farm, and how it has survived and thrived through all kinds of political turmoil. Again, that’s the key. We will survive. We will do the American thing and complain about each presidential candidate to enter the race and show and showcase their flaws and gaffs and now even criminal records, and make a decision about who we think is the best person to run the American show for the next four years. The candidates and their supporters will accuse each other of all sorts of corruption and questionable stuff, and in the end, we as a nation will choose who we think will head us in an acceptable direction.

Thursday was surely a historic day. It will be interesting to see if like Jackson achieving the highest position in the land and a subsequent place of honor on our $20 bill after killing a man, the Donald will again be elected to the top office in the land after a criminal conviction. Trump and Jackson have a lot of personality traits in common…both easily insulted, both quick to argue, both accusing others of all manner of horrible things, though Trump stands alone as the only man convicted in a criminal trial to be seeking the office. And Jackson stands alone as the only man to kill another man over a disagreement.

Jackson was very wealthy, owning a plantation, slaves and wielding a lot of political sway because of his status, as does Trump. Winning the popular vote with neither candidate achieving enough electoral votes in his first run for the Oval Office, Jackson was ousted and Adams in after some political arrangements and shuffling. Jackson, accusing Adams of corruption and shady collusion to attain his presidency, began what became the Democratic party and the institution of a two political party system. He signed the Indian Removal Act. He was the first president to pay off the national debt. He was president in a time of turmoil and what he accomplished would be very controversial today, not unlike Trump in his position as president.

We are again in a time of turmoil. The verdict of Thursday sure is a jaw-dropping scenario, as is the criminal trial of the sitting president’s son, set to begin soon. Both will be constant fodder for supporters and critics of both Trump and Biden in the coming months, not unlike Jackson and Adams.

Trump, before elected in 2016, once said at a rally that he could stand on Fifth Avenue and shoot someone — and he wouldn’t lose any votes. Maybe he was right. Jackson did it and still became president. We shall see. May 30 … a history making day indeed, in 1806 and again in 2024. Whatever transpires, we will survive.