In 1995, Aaron Sorkin wrote, and Rob Reiner directed “The American President,” rated by the American Film Institute in 2002 as the 75th best love story in the history of American cinema. Reiner, son of Carl Reiner who recently passed away at 98, choreographed the heartwarming romance between Michael Douglas, a widowed president and Annette Bening, an environmental activist in a film that also featured the tough and often conflicted world of politics, compromise and principle in the Oval Office.
When Douglas delivered Sorkin’s words in his moving speech at the end of the film, he emphasized, “America isn’t easy.” He cited as examples radical activism by the left and the right — which must be allowed in a democracy. He warned that protests from both sides have to be tolerated as part of the fabric of a free society .
If an overall sense of decency and compassion are to return today, Sorkin’s eloquent words in the closing speech by Douglas need to be more than a Hollywood script. The pandemic has heightened the need for tolerance and the George Floyd tragedy poured kerosene on many bonfires of emotion that were already nearly in flames . As poverty increased during the pandemic and a reaction of hostility focused on police brutality, the perfect storm that occurred was caused by much more than regrettable incidents by overzealous officers as the vacuum of substantive and moral leadership in the White House finally reached the streets.
Now, more than ever, the country needs to harken to Sorkin’s words, “America isn’t easy.” Ideas and proposals from the left, center and right have to be combined into acceptable solutions. Political enemies have to stop talking about bipartisanship and finally do something about it.
The political chasm can’t be allowed to widen during the next four years. The fictional passion that made “The American President” a love story and civics lesson, needs to resurface for real in both the White House and the electorate. The current atmosphere is largely the result of a narcissistic President devoid of empathy or sincere patriotic concern. Ensuring that the presidency returns to its rightful status won’t be easy but it has to start by changing the occupant of the White House to someone who embraces the values included by Aaron Sorkin in the speech eloquently delivered by Michael Douglas at the end of “The American President.”
Steven E. Kramer, a Greenfield native and a 1971 Deerfield Academy graduate, is a resident of Masshpee.