Think of what might have happened if, during his campaign, Bush had promised to put Gore in jail for various improprieties, and then, after he won, called on the Justice Department and the FBI to launch a criminal investigation of Gore.
These statements -- close to ones that Donald Trump has actually made -- might have imperiled the political stability of the nation.
Instead, Gore and Bush made the same moral choice their predecessors made at the end of every previous American presidential election, and for the same reason.
They understood that the demonstrations of respect for each other and for the Constitution confirmed the nation's commitment to our system of government. This was far more important than their own losses or wins.
Donald Trump has no such concern.
This is the essence of Trump's failure as president -- not that he has chosen one set of policies over another, or has lied repeatedly and chronically, or even that he has behaved in childish and vindictive ways unbecoming a president.
It is that he has sacrificed the processes and institutions of American democracy to achieve his own selfish ends.
By saying and doing whatever he believes it takes for him to come out on top, Donald Trump has abused the trust we place in a president to preserve and protect the nation's capacity for self-government.
This will be his most damaging and most damning legacy.
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