“The Reformation happened because people hadn’t the brains to understand Aquinas.”  Author unknown but mentioned in a 1936 article on G. K. Chesterton.

Miss Constitution would say that the cultural, legal, and ethical unraveling in America today is happening because people haven’t the brains to understand and appreciate our unique system.  Without going into great historical detail, the following is a simple checklist that might help citizen decision-making in the 2024 and future Presidential elections. This checklist can be applied to any Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidate of any party.

1. The primary duty of any President and Vice-President of the United States:

stewardship of the United States Constitution.  Article II, Section 1 – “I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”  George Washington added, “So help me God.”  A President’s duty is not to the United States itself, not to the People of the United States, not to any particular political Party in the United States, not to any espoused policy the President favors, nor to donors and backers of a Presidential campaign. No. The President owes a duty to uphold the Constitution itself, to honor the restraints inherent in the document, to honor the implied requirement of good faith in dealings with other co-equal federal branches, and to honor the enumerated Constitutional rights afforded citizens of the United States.

In addition, Article II, section 3 – the President vows to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”  These are not the laws the President may favor but the laws that are on the books, passed by both Houses of Congress, and signed by a sitting President.  A President is to enforce these laws out of respect to our Representative Republic and persons elected by We the People.

Check #1 – does the candidate understand the requirement of loyalty to the US Constitution?

2. The secondary duty of any President and Vice-President of the United States:

national defense.  Article II, Section 2 – “The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States. . . He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur. . .”  This is perhaps the most important function of all Presidential functions – the defense of the nation. The military of the United States is about lethality, prevention, and protection. It is civilian controlled, but the civilian control must be knowledgeable, tough, and completely loyal to the existence of a sovereign nation-state. The President is not to make secret Treaties (such as the Treaty with Japan made by Theodore Roosevelt that enslaved Korea) or international deals without the knowledge and approval of the Senate.

In addition, Article IV, Section 4 – “The United States. . . shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened), against domestic Violence.”  The US Constitution does not define the word “invasion” but if a state is overrun by any group or an actual invading army, the President must act if requested to by a Governor or state legislature.  The language of the Constitution is “shall protect” each state, not “may protect” each state.  The same Constitutional rules apply to riots and other unlawful domestic violence.

Check #2 – is the candidate capable of becoming familiar with complex national defense issues facing the nation and does the candidate have the requisite depth and gravitas to be the civilian commander-in-chief of our military and chief negotiator with foreign leaders?

3. The tertiary duty of any President and Vice-President of the United States:

a thorough understanding of how our economic system works.  Article II, Section 2 –

“The President. . . may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices.”  In other words, the Executive Departments provide the regulatory (administrative) rules for our private sector economy, and the President relies on their expertise in specific fields, before recommending “measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient”  for the general welfare.  The economic system of the United States is called Capitalism.  Capitalism is the antithesis of government-controlled systems known as Socialism or Communism.  It is a system that depends for success on light government regulation. The national government is not supposed to create businesses, control businesses, favor certain businesses over others, destroy legal businesses, manage businesses, or take over businesses.

The economic system of the United States has created the most prosperity for the most people in the history of the world. The reason for this success is the nature of Capitalism itself and the requirement that government entities exercise a light hand regarding power over them. The nature of our economic system is how capital is created for use in business growth and expansion. Capital is created for large businesses by sharing ownership in the business itself through shares of stock. One who owns a share of stock is a part owner of the business. Anyone can own these shares, even infants and children.  Rather than just earning wages, employees of American businesses can become owners, too, through stock option plans and other special programs. Capitalism rewards innovation, business skill, and fiscal discipline. Those who prosper in our system are required by our Moral Law to “give back” to society in the form of charitable donations and other forms of philanthropy.

The US Constitution promotes innovation in the private sector.  Article I, Section 8 – “Congress shall have Power To. . . promote the Progress of Science and Useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.”

Check #3 – has the candidate experience in the private sector, knowledge of how the private sector works in America, and an understanding of the relationship between our economic system and the role of government?

Well, there you have it.  The least we should be able to expect from our Chief Executive is loyalty to the US Constitution, competency in international affairs, and a working understanding and appreciation of our economy. We ask, if a candidate is particularly ideological, to put those views aside and to don the shawl of stewardship instead.

Perhaps it is true that no one has the brains to understand Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274).  Perhaps that is the reason why the Protestant Reformation succeeded in Europe and came to America.  What both have in common is a surety in the existence of God and His Grace, in the goodness of Nature, and in the potential of Man. Scottish moral philosophers Francis Hutcheson and Adam Smith added to this understanding the notion of a divine spark in all human beings that can be nurtured and an economic system untethered to class.

Miss Constitution thinks Americans do have the brains to understand, but do they appreciate?