As polls closed on Nov. 5, America completed one of the most stressful presidential cycles in U.S. history. Despite the many heavy emotions ushered in with this election season, throughout it all, there’s been no denying the history of the moment.
In an interview with NBC News a few days before the election, Vaile Wright, with the American Psychological Association, said: “We are seeing the highest levels of election-related stress.”
Bryan Sexton, a psychologist and director of the Duke Center for the Advancement of Well-being Science in Durham, North Carolina explained why the election is so stressful for many.
“Our brains are basically threat detectors,” said Sexton. “If you’re feeling stressed, it simply means you are paying attention.”
It is common for each presidential election to be deemed as “the most important in the history of the Republic.” However, without question, the presidential election of Nov. 5 has been the most important one since our founding in 1776.
Never has any candidate – Democratic or Republican – been as divisive and a threat to American Democracy as former President Donald J. Trump. He wins that part of the battle, hands down.
America has never had a president impeached twice, much less in one term.
Before Trump, when was the last time America had a nominee of either major party run as a convicted sex offender, indicted 34 times, facing an additional 54 indictments? Never.
Until Vice President Kamala Harris, the first and only woman to have served in her current role, America never had a Black and Asian woman, with a father from Jamaica and mother and from India, as a presidential nominee.
No other White House occupant running for reelection, except Presidents Joe Biden and Lyndon B. Johnson, have excused themselves from the race to bring unity to a fractured Democratic Party.
The campaign will be remembered for a few brave Republicans, like former Rep. Liz Cheney, who, recognizing Trump as a threat to democracy, endorsed the vice president.
It will also be remembered for those who were too cowardly to, like Cheney, bravely choose country over party.
The fight to save America’s democracy has been on us all. Of course, such pressure might feel heavy, but it’s important. In the often repeated words of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: “The time is always right to do what is right.”