A wise nation should cultivate a political spirit that allows

"A wise nation should cultivate a political spirit that allows opponents to cooperate without fearing an automatic execution from their core supporters. Who knew that the real rogues in American politics would be the ones who dare to get along?" Thus spoke Jon Meacham, historian and keeper of memory, whose words remind us that true greatness in a republic is not found in endless division, but in the courage to bridge the gulf. For when cooperation is punished and hostility rewarded, a nation walks the road of folly rather than wisdom.

The ancients understood this peril. In Rome’s final days, senators ceased to compromise, seeking instead the total destruction of their rivals. Civility was branded weakness, and moderation betrayal. Soon, daggers replaced debate, and the republic gave way to empire. The lesson is eternal: when enemies refuse to meet in council, the only outcome is blood and tyranny. A wise nation therefore must guard the fragile art of compromise as jealously as it guards its walls.

Consider Abraham Lincoln, who in the storm of civil war formed a "team of rivals," drawing into his cabinet those who had once opposed him. He knew that the political spirit of a democracy is not purity of faction, but the weaving of many voices into one chorus. His greatness lay in the refusal to see opponents as enemies, but as partners in a cause greater than themselves. To his generation, this was wisdom; to ours, Meacham warns, such cooperation is branded as betrayal.

So too in the story of Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the Great Depression and world war, he reached across divides, enlisting allies from camps far different than his own. His strength was not in silencing opposition, but in harnessing it, turning quarrels into shared labor. Yet in our age, as Meacham laments, those who "dare to get along" are labeled as rogues, as if peace and reason themselves were dangerous.

Therefore, let this truth endure: a nation that punishes compromise destroys its own foundation. To cultivate cooperation is not weakness, but the highest form of strength, for it demands humility, patience, and vision. Let future generations remember: the true rogues are not those who clasp hands across the aisle, but those who tear the house down in the name of purity. A wise nation will honor the builders, not the destroyers.