No One Would Have Guessed That ...

The United States has been involved in several wars which left the country exhausted and damaged. These wars include the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, the “War to End War”, World War II, and the Vietnam War. At the conclusion of each of these wars, no one would have guessed that the USA would elect a President who during his campaign declared “I love war!”

When President Reagan delivered his famous speech in West Berlin saying “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”, no one would have guessed that the USA would elect a President who promised to build a wall along its Mexican border and force the Mexicans to pay for it.

When John McCain, a US veteran who had been tortured as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War, was nominated as the Republican candidate for the US Presidency, no one would have guessed that the USA would later elect a President who declared that to him Mr. McCain was not a hero because he had allowed himself to be captured. No one would have guessed that the the same President would call for the US government to torture not only prisoners, but also their families.

When Horace Mann and others established a system of free, universal, non-sectarian public education in the United States, no one would have guessed that the USA would elect a President who would nominate a Secretary of Education who has devoted her life to moving public funding from public schools to private corporations.

When US troops liberated the German death camps during the final days of World War II in Europe, no one would have guessed that the USA would elect a President who would not mention Jews during his remarks on Holocaust Remembrance Day.

When Thomas Jefferson, discussing the first Amendment to the US Constitution, penned the words “wall of separation between Church and State” no one would have guessed that the USA would elect a President who would order that processing the applications of refugees seeking to enter the country should be expedited for those of certain religions.

Written as an assignment for the writers' group at The Fountains in February 2017. The assignment was to write on the topic "No One Would Have Guessed That ..."