November 26, 2006
Our Divided American House
The peaceful transfer of political power in this country is taken as a given and is rightly considered a distinguishing characteristic of American governance. Not one of the presidential Inauguration Days that occur every four years has ever been marred by violence and only once, when Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office, was the use of violence threatened. It cannot be said, however, that political power is always transferred tranquilly.
