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Thirty seven years ago today, as of the moment I just put pen to paper, John F. Kennedy was shot dead in Dallas, Texas by unknown assassins, for unknown reasons. From that moment to this, the American Presidency has been an institution in decline.

The decline actually started in November of 1960, when Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago stole the election for Kennedy. Richard Nixon, who, despite all his faults and failings, was at least a statesman, declined to contest the election, instead conceding and then quietly attempting to prove voter fraud or get recounts in various constituencies.
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Two weak candidates, a hung election. Who could have expected otherwise? Not only that, they begin making spectacles of themselves almost immediately. First, Al Gore, foolishly relying on television news as his source, concedes. Then, a few minutes later, he retracts his concession. Does George Bush react in a statesmanlike manner? Perhaps, if it’s statesmanlike to be snippy.

Then there follows the grotesque, contradictory and foolish battle of the ballots in Florida, as each candidate frantically seeks to get the roulette wheel to stop on his color. The actual truth is that balloting this close has a random outcome. So the electorate hasn’t spoken at all. The roulette wheel has spoken.
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In Texas, you can vote early (and, in the past, often), and Anne and I cast our ballots last week. By mutual agreement, we do not discuss our voting preferences, so I have no idea how she voted.

As I read down my own ballot, I voted as I always vote, mostly for people I either know or with whom I share mutual friends. I am not partisan. I will vote Democrat or Republican, conservative or liberal. My criteria tends to be personal, and I found, as I went along the list of state and local elections, that I was voting in practically every one. In some cases, I found myself voting for somebody I didn?t know because the person I did know I did not like, and the person unknown to me had a good record.
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