Wayman Newton: Hero worship: sweeping presidential flaws under the rug

Among the 500 hours of recordings recently released by the National Archives from the Nixon Administration, there was one conversation that many people would like to forget. Although I am not surprised by the content of the conversation or that the conversation actually took place, I am taken aback by the reaction of Americans.

Following a prayer breakfast at the White House, President Nixon and evangelist Billy Graham had a conversation in the Oval Office in which he made disparaging remarks about Jews. He spoke about his disdain for Jews' influence in the media and he said this "stranglehold" was ruining the country.

Like any public figure, Graham immediately issued a press release through his publicist when this conversation was made public: "Although I have no memory of the occasion, I deeply regret comments I apparently made in an Oval Office conversation with President Nixon some 30 years ago. They do not reflect my views, and I sincerely apologize for any offense caused by the remarks."

Though Graham's remarks warrant greater scrutiny, especially into the influence they may have had on his ministry and his particular sect of Christianity, as a nation we should use this opportunity to study and learn from the flaws of our leaders.

Contrary to how the media has portrayed the tapes, Graham's remarks were not a monologue. Rather, he and President Nixon were actively engaged in conversation, and the president agreed with him and made anti-Semitic remarks, as well. It was Nixon who first brought up the subject, telling Graham that he should take his "Jewish beanie" when going to speak with editors at Time magazine, and it was the president who called Jews an "irreligious, atheistic, immoral bunch of bastards."

Ironically, most news accounts of this conversation seem to leave out the fact that Nixon was apart of it and was making anti-Semitic remarks himself. They seem only to focus Graham's remarks.

Granted, Nixon is dead, and Graham is still alive, but considering that Graham was a television minister and Nixon was the president of the United States, one might imagine that there would be a greater commotion over Nixon's remarks. It is almost expected that such rhetoric will spew from extreme conservative Christian fundamentalists. But one would hope that a president, who actually has influence over policy, would not have such ignorant views.

Sadly, rather than using this incident, and others like it, to have a constructive dialogue, Americans are overcome by guilt and shame. As evidenced by the claims made by supporters in Nixon's defense, Americans try to downplay this and other flaws by suggesting they are ancillary to their president's executive achievements.

Society tries to ignore a president's personal flaws in its attempt to create heroes and legends. The need to do so is understandable -- children need role models, and our nation needs icons -- but it does more harm than good. It not only gives us a false sense of humanity, it also prevents us from learning from the mistakes and shortcomings of our presidents and hence our history.

As we progress into the 21st century, we are still confronted by many of the same social problems that have plagued our leaders in the past. Although we hold the ideals of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson -- liberty and democracy -- in the highest esteem, we continue to face the same dilemma they did in making sure every American is incorporated into this social paradigm. While the images of John F. Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt vacationing with their families are etched into our national psyche, many families today still struggle with the same hardships of infidelity and greed that ravaged these families.

Instead of glossing over these less-than-admirable aspects of our presidents, we should try to study and learn from them. If these men are considered to be part of the bedrock of our democracy, why shouldn't we look at how they personally dealt with social problems? History is full of mistakes and successes for us to use to learn and grow from. As long as we concentrate on the successes of the past, invariably we will be defeated by the mistakes we purposely ignore.

This is not intended to serve up an open invitation to dig up dirt on former presidents as a form of character assassination. Nor should we devalue their contributions to the country on account of their flaws.

We must honestly evaluate our former presidents and other leaders. For as long and we celebrate the standards they set for our nation and turn a blind eye to how they themselves were not able to live up to those standards, we will continue to be setting ourselves up for failure. Wayman Newton is a senior Political Science major from Birmingham, AL.

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