Dear Editor,

Now that the U.S. general election has come and gone perhaps a historical perspective is needed.

Partisans from the Republican/right and the Democratic/left have prognosticated since Trump鈥檚 re-election last Tuesday. 

From the winning Republican/Trump/right side, rather than reaching out it's almost a finger-in-the-eye response and an 鈥業 told you so鈥� sentiment. 鈥榊ou-never-understood-us鈥� accusations they threw at the Democrats/left (and media) after Joe Biden won in 2020 have been dusted off.

Verses the gloom-and-doom predictions of many Democrats/left that the GOP control of the White House, US Senate (control of the House is still in doubt), and a right-leaning majority of the Supreme Court, gives the Republicans unchecked power.

It鈥檚 time to take a deep breath. On both sides.

One thing I have tried to do is listen to the comments from the Democratic left in articles, podcasts, and YouTube posts as if I were a Republican back in 1932 after Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) won over Republican incumbent President Herbert Hoover. 

Many of the 鈥榙oom-and-gloom鈥� and despair of a Trump presidency from the left reminds me of what conservatives and the media said about FDR: he would lead the country to ruin and the government helping citizens would destroy individual incentives, even though the Great Depression gripped the country. 

鈥淲hy can not a man lift himself by pulling up oneself up from his bootstraps?鈥� and 鈥淕od helps those who help themselves,鈥� have long been two phrases used by conservatives for most of the country鈥檚 history.

There has been a history of warnings by political opponents if the other candidate wins.

鈥淭he grass will grow in the streets of a hundred cities, a thousand towns; the weeds will overrun the fields of a thousand farms,鈥� said President Hoover if FDR won in 1932. Ironically, it was FDR鈥檚 New Deal programs that built new streets as well as gave employment and hope to millions of Americans.

The first major shift in political parties and loyalties came after the 1828 election: Democrat Andrew Jackson wrestled control of the presidency.

The elections of 1860 and 1864 saw a marked shift in party alliances among the voters. In 1860, three major candidates ran for the presidency with the Democratic party splitting into two factions with Republican Abraham Lincoln winning. 

Four years later and a Civil War raging with the Southern states out of the Union, northern Democrats (like Franklin D. Roosevelt鈥檚 father) voted for the re-election of Republican Abraham Lincoln. Many former northern Democrats became Republicans allowing the GOP control of Congress and the presidency largely from 1868-1884. It was only broken by Democrat Grover Cleveland who won (like Trump) two non-consecutive terms in 1884 and 1892.

The pendulum in U.S. politics tends to swing back and forth between the political right and left. Two recent examples are when Presidents Reagan and Trump overreached and paid a price: Reagan鈥檚 GOP lost of the Senate in 1982 and Trump鈥檚 GOP lost control of the House in 2018.

What Trump will do is anyone鈥檚 guess. The first electoral test will be the mid-term election of 2026.

Scott Larsen

Courtenay