Thank you, Mr. President

 by Marilyn Moore

Dear Mr. President,

I had planned to write this letter in four years, as you were finishing your second term as President of the United States.  Such is not to be, as you’ve announced your decision today to stand down from your candidacy for re-election and to devote full time and energy to the presidency.  That decision makes me sad.  I’m angry that you had to make it.  There’s nothing fair about it.  But you have, as you always have, weighed the complex factors of this decision in this time and in this place, and made the decision that in your judgment best serves our country.  That’s what leadership looks like, and our country is fortunate to see it and experience it and live it with you.

Thank you, not for standing down, but for standing up.  You have stood up for, spoken for, advocated for, and kept at the forefront of your thinking those persons who have been pushed to the margins by the powerful voices and policies of the past – women, members of the LGBTQ+ community, persons of color, miners and autoworkers and members of unions, service members and veterans, children who are hungry and homeless, the poor.  

Thank you for standing up for rights for women, especially reproductive health rights, and for voting rights.  Both are under attack at this time; your support has been relentless.  It matters.

Thank you for leading this nation through the Covid 19 pandemic, with regard for the science that led to the development of vaccine and with regard for public health workers and health care providers who provided care every single day.  Thank you for negotiating with all the parties that were a part of the supply chain issues – it’s lovely to not find the empty shelves in grocery stores that we confronted in 2021 when you took office.  Thank you for your support of public schools, their teachers and principals, who kept schools running and found new ways to keep students learning, during a pandemic. 

Thank you for your principled stand on supporting Ukraine when it was, and still is, attacked by Russia.  Thank you for rallying the NATO nations to join in that stance, and for restoring the United States to a position of leadership among the nations of the world, especially among the nations that are democracies.  Thank you for trying to find a way to balance the right of Israel to defend itself with the very real humanitarian needs of the Palestinians, especially those living in Gaza who are suffering from deprivation of food, water, and medical care. Diplomacy is not easy; you have not given up.  In these two hot spots of the world today, and in others as well, your deep knowledge and understanding of foreign relations comes to the fore.

Thank you for surrounding yourself with a Cabinet and a team of advisors who are smart, diverse, committed to the Constitution, and effective.  You have led them well, you have listened to them, and policies have emerged that serve the public well.

Thank you for nominating Ketanji Brown Jackson to the US Supreme Court, and for nominating hundreds of other persons to serve as judges on federal courts throughout the country.  Your nominees include women and people of color to a degree not seen before; thank you for taking steps toward a judiciary that looks like the citizenry.  

Thank you for respecting science, the science that led to the development of the Covid-19 vaccine and the science that says we must take action to halt climate change.  Thank you for respecting the natural world in which we live, for setting aside lands as protected areas to assure there will always be places in nature accessible to all US residents.

Thank you for your leadership in the passage of major legislative bills that make lives better for ordinary Americans, funds that rebuild and restore bridges and highways, systems that result in vital supplies, like computer chips, being made in the US, child tax credits and free lunches for school kids (these need to be extended, by the way, and I’m sure you’re working on it, though a Republican House makes it challenging; for a party that claims to be pro-life and pro-family, they are remarkably unwilling to adopt federal legislation that would actually help families), a few more procedures in place to try to keep guns out of the hands of those who are most dangerous, and caps on insulin.

Thank you for your compassion for those who suffer, for filling the role of Comforter in Chief with such genuine dignity.  You have called parents of children who have been killed in school shootings, you have called spouses of service members killed while serving their country.  You have visited cities and villages that have been ravaged by natural disasters and manmade accidents, assuring by your presence that those affected are not forgotten by their national government. 

Thank you for your grace and strength and courage in the past four weeks, when for some reason the national media decided to focus on your raspy voice instead of the thirty-some lies told by your opponent in the debate.  During that time, you have also met with heads of state, you have convened the NATO nations, you have answered endless questions from the press, including a lengthy late-night press conference; in other words, you have gone about the business of being the President of United States, a job that, as your Secretary or Transportation says, you know how to do, and you do it well. 

Thank you for selecting Kamala Harris as your running mate four years ago, and for supporting her today as our next president.  She is whip-smart, she is wise, she opens the door of what is possible by her very presence.  Excellent choice, Mr. President.

Thank you for letting us see the person you are – a person who loves his family, a person of faith, a person who sees the value and dignity of all God's children, a person who loves his country more than himself.  And thank you for reminding us often, as you did in your letter today, that there is nothing that the American people cannot accomplish, when we all work together.  Words of wisdom for all of us….

Thank you, Mr. President, and may God bless you and yours,

Marilyn Moore