“I am loathe to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”
–from President Abraham Lincoln’s March 4, 1861 Inauguration speech

The office of President of the United States of America carries with it much prestige and, hopefully, its rightful share of gravitas. There’s a certain panache possessed by, thus far, the man holding the office. Maybe it’s his influence and power, not just in our country but throughout the world.

According to polls and election results, in recent history our country’s been pretty much evenly divided between whomever represents each of the two major parties. Of course, the last two elections it was Presidents Biden and Trump. One would surmise by watching cable news that each of us either hated Biden and loved Trump, or were deranged by Trump’s performative rants and soothed by Biden’s “Uncle Joe” demeanor. As is usually the case, the news media misrepresented the vast majority of Americans (my common-sense opinion; no data to support this).

The fact of the matter is that both of these men are just that–men–who go home to families they love and grandchildren they dote on. Away from the camera, were we to be flies on the wall, we’d probably see that they’re just like most of us and our loved ones. They have flaws, they have strengths, they have vulnerabilities, and they have frailties.

The latter came to light last week with the announcement that former President Biden has an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has metastasized to bone. That’s not good. His cancer is hormone-treatment sensitive, however. That’s good.

His cancer diagnosis confirms his mere mortality, just as the near-miss assassination attempt on Mr. Trump’s life last year confirmed his. All of us should be able to relate to that.

It was uplifting and predictable, as we’ve seen it previously with people of political power, to hear the well wishes Mr. Biden received from folks on both sides of the aisle, including his bitter political nemesis, President Trump.

If when you first heard of Mr. Biden’s cancer, you thought, “It serves him right,” or your reaction to last July’s attempted assassination of Mr. Trump near Butler, Pennsylvania was, “Too bad the shooter wasn’t a better shot,” you crossed a human-decency red line. Those who think like that are the outliers, not the mainstream in America.

There is a strong thread of human decency that runs through the fabric of our nation. Read the above passage from President Lincoln’s speech and imagine the angst and division our country was experiencing then. The Union was at risk of crumbling, entire states opposed other states, and in some cases members of the same family picked up weapons to use against one another.

President Lincoln rose above it all, appealing to the “better angels” of our disposition. Of course, we fought a Civil War–an oxymoron if there ever was one–and our country suffered terribly. If you don’t know the details of General Lee’s surrender to General Grant at the Appomattox Court House, read about it. After years of fighting to the death, Lee surrendered to a more-than-gracious Grant, who allowed the Confederate soldiers to return home rather than go to prison–taking with them their horses, guns, and personal property.

A black mark on our nation’s history ended with a moment of grace. Grant, who went on to become one of our most egregiously maligned and poorly understood presidents, exemplified human compassion for his fellow man. If there was a silver lining to the war, that was it.

So, here we are today. A former president has what appears to be a cancer with a poor prognosis. Regardless of our political proclivities, may it be that we all join in wishing Mr. Biden, “Godspeed.”