Biden should learn history’s lessons, not double down on bad progressive ideas

Even in the relatively short history of the United States, our history illustrates lessons we should heed today. Some are recent enough that many of us remember them.

Our leaders are faced with decisions in real-time that often have no clear-cut right answers. But in the last 50 years, we have repeatedly turned away from policies that work. We need only to look at our own history for guidance.

In the 1970s, Jimmy Carter was elected president following the scandals of President Richard Nixon. Watergate led to the American people losing confidence in Nixon, who had otherwise led the nation with a firm hand. Nixon oversaw the reduction of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, détente with the Soviet Union and China, the first manned moon landings, and the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency. But none of these achievements could overcome the scandals laid bare on television.

Carter, by all accounts a thoughtful and caring leader, won the 1976 election and took over a growing economy. His own record, however, will forever be remembered for stagflation, the Iran hostage crisis, and energy shocks that saw motorists queued around the block in search of gasoline.

The people lost faith in the man Nixon, not the policies. Carter lost the trust of the people because of his policies, not the man.

History clearly tells us — screams at us, in fact — that Americans want leadership with sound, secure policies and personal integrity. They will forgive imperfections, but not incompetence.

If the definition of insanity is to continue to do the same things expecting different results, what does it say about our national leadership today?

President Joe Biden took office amid a vibrant economic recovery during a pandemic, with a strong dollar and a measure of peace in the Middle East under President Donald Trump’s foreign policy. Yet today, a short 18 months into Biden’s term, we have a baby formula shortage, record-high gas prices, worse inflation than we’ve seen in decades and no end in sight.