The 2020 Election: A History Teacher’s View

By Abigail Miller

No matter your political view, one thing the American people have in common is the fact that this past Presidential Election was one for the books.

Jason Vieira, Redwood High School AP US history teacher says that this election “definitely was different than recent elections”. Taking into consideration how different this election was because of Covid-19, Vieira says that there were “two very distinct campaign styles on display”.

The way both of the candidates “viewed the Covid outbreak was evident if the public just paid attention to how they campaigned.  President Trump getting Covid and being hospitalized was a pretty wild moment in political history” says Vieira, “I don’t know if we have ever had a Presidential candidate hospitalized so close to Election Day”.

In his own view “our political ideologies are becoming more extreme because of the way in which we receive information.” He says “It seems political ideologies have their own news and social media echo chambers that just reaffirm their belief systems”.

In the middle of the 20th century, Americans “relied on 2-3 major network news sources and the paper of record, so the news and information the public was getting was thoroughly vetted”. However today, people are able to “seek out news that they want to believe.  It’s an assault on truth and I think it’s going to get worse in the coming years” says Vieira.

As far as finances go, Vieira says “money has always played a role in politics.  The Supreme Court has decided that money is speech and whether or not I agree with that ruling, it is the law.  With that precedent being set I can see money and, the wealthy in particular, playing a significant role in federal and state politics moving forward. But that’s nothing new in American history.”

“2020 is a tough time to compare to any historical era because as a nation we’re all over the place socially, politically and economically” he says. “It’s very easy as an American to worry about our nation or think the worst is yet to come with everything we’ve seen in our society over the past several months.  With that being said I’m still hopeful in our countries future and in the ability of the American people to overcome our differences.”

As far as the election turnout “2020 was historic and that’s an objectively good thing”. “Young people turned out to vote in record numbers, that’s also great news.  I’ve always felt the more people engaged in the democratic process the better it is for democracy and democratic institutions, and Election Day was a good day for democracy”, he says.

Vieira says that it’s hard to tell if there will be any major historical moments to take away from this election. He explains “It’s difficult to say right now because it’s all so recent but I think one takeaway from this time period is going to be the cult of personality that surrounds the President”.

Vieira says that he has never recalled seeing such a large following of a political figure before. “Perhaps it’s just bizarre to me personally because I have never really revered modern pollical figures”. His personal philosophy is that “in a republican democracy they work for me, not the other way around.  And if I disagree with an elected official, even one I voted for, I’m completely comfortable being critical of them”.

However, he says, “that doesn’t seem to be the case with our current President and his followers will reject the best science, medicine and apparently now math if the President tells them to.  It’s a troubling trend and I think historians will be writing about it for decades.

Stephen Tootle, COS history professor says that the the far left and right did not have a insignificant impact on the election. “We have always had anti-American radicalism in our politics.  What we call “the right” in this election was simply populism, a force that is always present in our politics.  What we call “the left” is the same.  The Left and the Right both want to destroy our political system because our system does not give them what they want”, he says. “There are always people around who think that our system was designed to give “the people” what they want.  Then they define themselves as “the people.”  But luckily our system was designed to prevent “the people” from getting what they want.  Because the political goals of both the “Right” and the “Left” boil down to nothing more than taking rights away from people who aren’t like themselves and bestowing money, power, and privileges on themselves. “

Tootle says “Our representative institutions worked during this election.  I think we got a good demonstration of why it is good that countries and states run our elections instead of concentrating power over elections in the federal government.”

In contrast to what Vieira said about money interfering with todays politics, Tootle believes “money has never been less important”and “it certainly did not translate into votes in any discernible pattern”.

In his own views, the major takeaways from this election depend “on what kind of pressure the American people put on our elected officials and if elected officials choose to exercise patriotic leadership”. Tootle says “If the American people demand a restoration of political norms and reaffirm our commitment to our constitutional order our politicians will follow suit.  Politicians can also show leadership by choosing to reject the Right and the Left and any anti-American, anti-pluralistic political ideas.”

In the end “the future is unwritten” he says, and “How we act now is what will justify the sacrifices made for us by the people who came before us”.