, Columnist
A Graceless President, a National Betrayal
Unlike Trump, Reagan understood the power of humility and graciousness.
It's contagious.
Photographer: Elijah Nouvelage/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
For leaders as well as friends, spouses and colleagues, grace is a precious characteristic. Whatever one thinks of Donald Trump’s policy choices, our nation has never had a president more lacking in grace.
Whether or not Abraham Lincoln was the greatest American president, he was certainly its most gracious. Here’s the close of his brief Second Inaugural, delivered toward the end of the Civil War, when the nation was a house divided: