I've seen various posts eulogizing President H.W. Bush and posts emphasizing his blunders, mistakes, and scandals since he died, and I think it brings up an important point about current politics, and really about current attitudes.
No person is entirely good or entirely bad - humanity, just like politics, is a spectrum. When someone dies, the focus tends to be on their successes - and that's OK. Both sides can be respected - in fact, that was something that George H.W. Bush strongly believed in. By focusing on someone's successes after their death, we bring back that person's better moments and look to build on them, while at the same time acknowledging their failures and shortcomings. Bush 41 regularly acknowledged his mistakes, so that others would learn from him.
However, politics & people are increasingly viewed in black and white terms - either you're good OR bad, or right OR wrong. There's no room for the middle, but the middle is where compromises and civility happens. That's how we get a democratic government that represents the majority of the people, not special interests on the fringes of society. When both sides head for the extremes of their party or beliefs, there isn't room for others to be heard, or deals to be made - and the situation gets worse and worse until there's a drastic change.
41's letter to President Clinton in 1993 - after Bush lost badly to Clinton in '92 - is a beautiful example of this understanding - that success is never solitary, but the culmination of compromise and civility in the public forum:
"You will be our President when you read this note. I wish you well. I wish your family well.
Your success now is our country’s success. I am rooting hard for you."
E Pluribus Unum
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