Our friend Shari''s letter encourages President Trump to take the high road.

Guest writer, friend, and my former student Shari Spoolstra may have a slightly different political position than our usual letters.  It is a thoughtful and graceful example of civil discourse.

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Washington D.C. 20500

15 February 2017 

Dear Mr. President, 

I’m going to jump right in, you are a busy man after all. I beseech you to listen with an open heart and mind.

There are so many citizens in our country that want you to fail. (I don’t understand this logic, at all, but that’s a different topic.) I fear that, even if your “presidential stat sheet” has great numbers, millions of people won’t care or even sadder, they won’t believe it. So, it is vitally important that your stat sheet be successful. Unfortunately for you, it's going to take more than numbers to be considered a successful president.

My point is- prove them wrong. Don’t only succeed; succeed with grace, humility, and compassion. Succeed by bringing unity back to this country. Succeed by encouraging peace. Succeed by respecting your opponent’s ideas. Succeed by protecting the weak, by listening to your constituents- on both sides of the aisle, by making compromises when necessary. Succeed by rising above backbiting and malicious talk. Succeed without Twitter, without boasting, without bulldozing. Succeed with prayer, dignity, humility and compassion. These are the values our country was built upon- embrace them.

Confidence can still be achieved without bulldozing the weak. Decision making can be made while including others and following procedure. Signing executive order after executive order doesn’t prove that over half the voters agree with you, it proves that you can bully your views into reality. You don’t need to prove to the opposition that you are right by tweeting about it, prove them wrong with humble silence.

Succeed, Mr. President, but do it well.

Respectfully, 

Shari Spoolstra