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Amy Fried is a retired political science professor at the University of Maine. Her views are her own and do not represent those of any group with which she is affiliated.
We are a people with conflicts rooted in different experiences, interests, values and beliefs. And, as founder James Madison pointed out, divisions between citizens are both inescapable and “sufficient to kindle their unfriendly passions.”
Dealing with disagreements and divides is properly handled nonviolently. But through my lifetime and before, violence in politics has happened again and again.
I grew up in a time of political assassinations. I was quite young when President John F. Kennedy, in an open car, was attacked in November 1963 in Dallas.
Years later I learned that JFK was the fourth president to have been assassinated and I eventually learned so much more about American politics and history.
Back then I didn’t really understand who the president was but, with the nation, I saw the funeral cortege with its flag-draped coffin and people lining the streets and could tell what happened was important.
I was watching TV when I found out that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot in Memphis while standing on a hotel balcony. When my show was interrupted by a news alert, I knew this was something my parents would want to know so I went and told them. Their faces and shock moved me. My school teacher had our class write about King so that we all would know who he was and when he stood for.
When months later Robert F. Kennedy was killed after winning the California presidential primary, I found out when I woke up. This time my parents, who talked about the presidential race at our dinner table, told me.
Later came other incidents of violence against political leaders.
A mentally ill man shot President Ronald Reagan in March 1981, along with a police officer, a Secret Service agent and the president’s press secretary.
Reagan’s press secretary James Brady was badly wounded and left with permanent injuries. Brady then devoted himself to gun control, eventually getting the Brady Bill passed in 1993. This established background checks and waiting periods.
In 2011, U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords of Arizona was shot in the head while speaking to constituents. Eighteen others were also shot and six people died. While she has come a long way, Giffords will never fully recover.
Ten years later, as part of an attempt to stop the peaceful transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden, police officers were severely beaten at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Vice President Mike Pence, those serving in Congress and their staff were hunted by the mob.
Less than two years ago, the husband of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was attacked with a hammer by an intruder in their California home. Paul Pelosi’s skull was fractured.
Just a few days ago, former President Donald Trump was targeted by an assassin, leaving him with an injured ear. Others in the Pennsylvania crowd were also harmed, one fatally.
Most of us see politicians without being physically present. But, with the presidential election less than four months away, there also must be many opportunities for candidates to speak safely to crowds and small groups.
As President Joe Biden said the night Trump was shot, “The bottom line is that the Trump rally was a rally that he should have been able to conduct peacefully without any problem.”
There will be time to investigate how a gunman got on a nearby roof which should have been secured.
And before Election Day, voters must explore the candidates’ records and what they’d do about health care, the climate, immigration, economic inequality and opportunity, economy, rights foreign policy and, yes, the gun violence that harms and kills children and adults.
It’s also perfectly legitimate for candidates to talk about how, in their views, their opponent would help or hurt the United States. We should talk about what it means to respect or threaten our democratic institutions. The shooting last weekend doesn’t erase Trump saying he wanted to be a dictator on day one, calling for retribution against political opponents, and posting a call for Liz Cheney to be tried for treason by a military tribunal.
While there will always be disagreements, violence is unacceptable. As Biden exclaimed Saturday night, “It’s sick. It’s sick…We cannot be like this.” Sharp, spirited discourse is appropriate, even necessary, but can and should be done in a civil manner.
