Alvin Barnes of Jackson, Mississippi, reflects on Watergate, Human Nature, and the Pursuit of Leaders Above Reproach

By Alvin Barnes of Jackson Mississippi,

When I was in middle school, I wrote a history paper about the Watergate scandal.

The assignment was fairly straightforward. I summarized the events leading up to the break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate complex, the investigation that followed, the arrests, and ultimately President Richard Nixon’s resignation.

At the very end of that paper, I wrote one sentence that caught me off guard when I read it again years later.

“Because of the resignation of then-President Nixon, this is the biggest scandal ever known to this country involving the President of the United States. But it’s not the last.”

Reading those words as an adult made me stop.

Not because I thought I had predicted the future, but because they revealed how an eighth-grade student was already wrestling with a difficult question about leadership, power, and the nature of people.

When scandals become expected

Watergate was supposed to be shocking.

The idea that a President of the United States could become involved in a scandal significant enough to resign was almost unimaginable. A scandal should be the exception, not the expectation.

Yet history kept moving.

After Nixon came other administrations, other controversies, and other moments that tested public confidence. Ronald Reagan faced Iran-Contra. Bill Clinton faced impeachment.

More recent presidents have each carried controversies of their own.

Regardless of political party, one reality becomes clear.

Human beings eventually disappoint us.

That observation isn’t cynical.

It’s historical.

America’s ideals are still worth pursuing

As I reread my old paper, another thought came to mind.

America’s founding documents remain some of the most remarkable political writings ever produced.

The Declaration of Independence.

The Constitution.

The Bill of Rights.

They describe a vision of liberty, justice, limited government, and accountability that continues to inspire people throughout the world.

Yet the men who wrote those documents were not perfect.

They were brilliant.

They were courageous.

They were deeply flawed.

Some owned slaves.

Some lived with contradictions that history continues to examine today.

That doesn’t erase the greatness of the principles they articulated.

It reminds us that imperfect people can still produce extraordinary ideas.

The challenge of every generation

As I reflected on all of this, I remembered something author Tim Wise has often argued.

He suggests that many Americans, particularly Black Americans, have spent generations calling the nation to live up to the promises written in its founding documents, sometimes more faithfully than the men who originally wrote them.

Whether someone agrees with every aspect of that argument or not, the larger point deserves reflection.

Every generation inherits ideals.

Every generation also inherits unfinished work.

The question is not whether our predecessors were perfect.

The question is whether we will move closer to the ideals they declared.

Holding onto the ideal

People are human.

Leaders are human.

Governments are made up of human beings.

Mistakes, failures, and even scandals will happen because people are imperfect.

But I don’t believe that means we should lower our expectations.

There is nothing wrong with expecting our leaders to be people of integrity.

There is nothing wrong with believing public service should be honorable.

There is nothing wrong with holding onto the vision that those entrusted with public office should strive to be above reproach.

In fact, I think that expectation is healthy.

Ideals are not meant to describe where we are.

They exist to remind us where we should always be trying to go.

Looking back at a paper I wrote in middle school, I realize I wasn’t simply writing about Watergate.

Without fully understanding it, I was beginning to wrestle with one of history’s oldest questions:

How do imperfect people faithfully steward extraordinary ideals?

I don’t know that I’ve found the complete answer.

But I know it’s still a question worth asking.

With reflection,

Alvin Barnes of Jackson, Mississippi

Alvin Barnes of Jackson, Mississippi, reflects on Watergate and the Pursuit of Leaders Above Reproach