Essay Read by Constituting America Founder, Actress Janine Turner
The essays in our study reference the following edition of Democracy In America: University of Chicago Press – 1st edition translated by Harvey Mansfield and Delba Winthrop. Today’s essay references pages 567 (start at chapter 11 heading) – 578 (stop at chapter 14 heading) of this edition of Democracy in America.
As a regular guy who once had a big job, I’m grateful to have this opportunity to once again take part in Constituting America’s 90-Day Study, with this year’s focus on Alexis De Tocqueville’s Democracy in America. It was the honor of my life to serve as Speaker of the House of Representatives; a position that required me to serve simultaneously as my party’s leader and as leader of the institution itself. The direct and frequent election of our representation in the lower chamber makes it unique in that it allows for more engagement and responsiveness to the will of the electorate. It’s why we call it the People’s House, as our Founders believed it should have “an immediate dependence on, and intimate sympathy with, the people.”
In Volume 2, Part 3 of De Tocqueville’s book, morality and equality take center stage in Chapters 11 through 13. His foresight on the gradual journey for equality as it applied to women’s rights was profound, and was likely met with skepticism by the society of his time, but his prediction was based on the laws and how our Founders described our rights. As you’ll recall, the Founders wrote that every individual possessed fundamental rights, even before these rights were ever put into writing. They were described, as stated in the Declaration of Independence, as ‘unalienable’ and their existence was a ‘self-evident’ truth. This notion affirmed this equality De Tocqueville is discussing, as well as the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. While the societal times may not have shown us to be there yet, the truth was clear and thus, our gradual growth to reach equality would continue as long as we the people continued to support this grand experiment in democratic governance.
To do so, we must have a level of trust in our fellow citizens to take their civic duties seriously and to act in good faith for the betterment of the country–not solely for their personal benefit. And it’s here where De Tocqueville seemed to struggle with his understanding of this concept: in his view, how could man not be selfish in his endeavors to acquire more power, higher standing in society, etc? And that is one of the challenges we face. Our democracy is a living, breathing entity and our Founders had the smarts to make it so that limits would be placed on our elected leaders. Our Founding Fathers knew that the power would always reside with the citizens to make changes where necessary–both in our representation and with the foundational documents of our democracy. For example, the threshold to amend the Constitution is expectedly high, but it is a privilege and a right afforded to We the People.
And while the questions of morality may not be central to our political discourse today, it has always been a core principle of mine and so many others who enter public service. And it’s here where De Tocqueville starts to question the self-serving motives of some and how that could impact the overall effort of growing our democracy to where it could go and would eventually become.
Throughout my life, I always believed — and still do — that if you do the right things for the right reasons, the right things will happen. And I brought this ‘Boehnerism,’ along with many others, to Congress as I worked to uphold the oath I took to serve and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Governing is not easy, which may seem like an incredible understatement. But it’s true. Governing is not about doing the impossible, but at its core, it is the art of the possible–it requires us to look for common ground where it can be found, all without compromising on our principles or conflicting with our moral compass.
My greatest worry about our system is that we will lose the ability to distinguish between finding common ground and compromising, which has become a sign of weakness and defeat. I firmly believe you can find common ground with those who subscribe to a different party affiliation or ideology, and you can do so without abandoning your core beliefs. In fact, our democracy requires it from time to time. And our system of government would break down completely if not for people on both sides of the fence who understand that distinction and work to find those opportunities to work in bipartisan fashion.
Our work to create a more perfect union, as our Constitution instructs us to do, will continue as long as we the people stay engaged in the process, never take for granted our freedom to choose and forge our own paths in life, and remain steadfast in our pursuit of the values and ideals our Founders established for each of us.
John Boehner, the 53rd Speaker of the House, led the US House from January 2011 to October 2015, a time during which he navigated some of the most difficult legislative challenges of the modern era and forged strong relationships with business and government leaders throughout the world. An Ohio-native and former small businessman who entered public service because of his desire to remove barriers to economic growth and private-sector job creation, Speaker Boehner is respected on both sides of the political aisle for his efforts to find common ground on major policy matters without compromising on principle, and for his belief that individuals of competing viewpoints can “disagree, without being disagreeable.” After leaving Congress, Speaker Boehner joined Squire Patton Boggs—a full-service international law firm—to serve as a senior strategic advisor to the firm’s clients in the US and abroad, focusing on global business development.
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