For too long America has had presidents representing one side or another, a political war within a nation. To quote the words of Martin Luther King Jr., “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." As a nation, we will never be able to succeed if we are not united. To rise, we must rise together.

The Importance of an Independent President

It is extremely important for a president to have no political party affiliation. This is true because a president - in order to make great changes - must be a president of unity, of all the american people, not just one party or another. A strong believer of this view was in fact, the first president of the United States of America, George Washington. This is mainly why he appears several times throughout this article.

The Election Process

There are many reasons an independent president hasn’t happened since George Washington’s time. One of the main reasons for this is the electoral process, which favors a two party system.

Non-voters

Statistics show that - as of the 2020 election - 80.87 million voting-eligible Americans did not vote. The 2016 election had a staggering near 50% of all voting eligible Americans not voting. With every passing year, more and more Americans are willing to vote in favor of an independent candidate, rather than the two main parties that have dominated the American political spectrum for decades.

In favor of Independents

Studies shown in a slide made by Politico.com - namely slide 5 - display a chart showing that the number of U.S. citizens in favor of an independent candidate has been increasing dramatically over a long period of time.

George Washington

George Washington is, to date, the only US president to not affiliate himself to a political party. In fact, he was against it. He states this clearly in his farewell address, “The spirit of party serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection.” The accuracy of his words were displayed on Jan 6, 2021; when approximately 2,000 - 2,500 U.S. citizens stormed the capitol building, due to political contradiction and purposeful agitation through media usage making people too angry to process logic over emotion.

George Washington was only the first independent president, but there will be another. When Ross Perot won 19% of the popular vote in 1992, it scared the two main parties, the Democratic and Republican parties. It scared them, as it showed them the very real possibility of being dethroned, of America finally breaking its corrupt two party political system.

How your anger is used against you

Anger is a common strategy used by politicians and media to control masses of civilians to follow them. It works due to the influences it has on the brain. To quote mainstreamcoporatetraining, “Anger affects your thinking. Memory, creativity, and concentration weaken. Your thoughts become accusatory, exaggerated, and rigid. You treat assumptions as facts; you may become irrational.” This allows you to be controlled through your emotions, just like most Americans today.

What we need

As a nation, a president over all his people, not just his party, is what is needed to unify a citizenship divided for over 250 years. Too long have people seeked political parties that entertain the public, a distraction from real world problems. The political party system, a tool capable of most wondrous destruction by way of distraction and entertaining of one's beliefs and ideals; to put censure on uncensurable consequences for the actions of one people - The american people. Parties are set to allow people to make actions and choices whilst giving the ability to not have to give censure to oneself, but rather those that objectify the very action that caused consequence.

To quote Calvin Coolidge, “If we wish to erect new structures, we must have a definite knowledge of the old foundation.” These words are a guide to the future of the United States of America. Our first great president, George Washington, had no political party affiliation, and it is time for our nation to retouch on independent presidents.

Rutherford Birchard Hayes, while still a Republican, had some words to share on our political system. “This system destroys the independence of the separate departments of the government; it tends to directly to extravagance and official incapacity; it is a temptation to dishonesty; it hinders and impairs that careful supervision and strict accountability by which alone faithful and efficient public services can be secured; it obstructs the prompt removal and sure punishment of the unworthy. In every way it degrades the civil service and the character of the government.”

However, when resolving this great political war within our nation, we must use advice once given by James Buchanan, “I most earnestly recommend that you devote yourselves exclusively to the question how this can be accomplished peacefully.” We have hitherto been unable to elect an independent candidate into office, yet now at the dawn of a new era, there is more of a chance now then ever for the unification of the American people once again.

A very familiar speech can phrase the political war currently ensuing, Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address “fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.”

How we can go about electing a new president

To follow the ways of Mahatma Gandhi, we shall peacefully protest. Martin Luther King Jr. also believed in this form of effectively displaying unity. As well as these two individuals, Jim Lawson and John Lewis also believed in their ways. Organize protests, form groups, communities within communities. Contact your local town mayors and police officers to schedule protests. This is your call to action, take it.

In conclusion

Unify together, not under a political party or an organization, not as a movement or something that can be slandered on. Unify as the people of the United States of America.