Dear Friends,
No matter where you are on the political spectrum, I doubt you will look back on 2025 with any nostalgia. Last year, the Executive Branch of the United States government imposed “shock and awe” on its own citizens. Very few people predicted the scale of chaotic change or the enormous stresses that are now on countless institutions that we have come to rely on over the years.
In 2025, I was forced to draw breath on numerous occasions and think about how those events might look over the longer haul. And the more I thought about it, the more I came to conclude that those who theorize on the cycles of American political life are on to something. I first noticed this phenomenon for myself during my many years of travel to the Soviet Union and after its fall in 1991. Such trends are not just an American phenomenon.
There is something about the 70/80-year cycle—or approximately three generations—that is pivotal to the arc of history. Without vital course corrections throughout those years, 70/80 years is the approximate time it takes for the ethos of society’s builders to morph into cynicism, alienation and often violence. To put it another way: stage one, the idealists articulate a vision and craft its elements; stage two, people benefit from the new system and build upon it, enhancing individual power and economic strength; stage three, significant numbers of people are overwhelmed by those who exploit the status quo and all its loopholes, primarily for their own benefit. This can produce significant outcomes or even radical responses. Reform and resolution—or alternatively decline and collapse—depend on the relationships within society itself.
Think about it:
It was 73 years from the ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1788 to the American Civil War in 1861. It was little more than 70 years from the Russian Revolution and the Bolshevik coup in 1917 to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. It’s interesting that halfway through this seventy-year cycle Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev condemned the crimes, atrocities and policies of his predecessor Joseph Stalin, in the famous speech he gave to the 20th Party Congress in February 1956. But ultimately, counter forces were too strong to uphold his tenure and his modest reform agenda. The last leader of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev and his colleagues who rose to power in the early 1980s were known as “the Children of the 20th Party Congress.” This group was deeply influenced by Khrushchev but understood the desperate need for more fundamental reform to address their country’s stagnation and systemic repression. It was too late. They tried but failed. On December 26, 1991, the Soviet Union was officially dissolved—only 74 years after its bloody beginning.
And, it has been approximately 70/80 years from the Truman and Eisenhower Administrations—that reshaped the post-World War II era—to the Trump Administration. This is one more example of the cyclical theory.
Using such thinking, we may be marking the end of an historic time when “we the people” had consolidated unprecedented power over our own lives and had reached the pinnacle of our social, economic and geo-political achievement.
The “decline” we now debate has been some time in the making. The post-Nixon and Vietnam era benefitted from urgent reform. But, since 9/11 and the war in Iraq our own government has been meddling with our personal privacy, our individual rights, our national identity, and the ability to compete on a free and fair domestic playing field. Politicians emphasize the enemy, not the opportunity to unite our country and find sustainable solutions to international problems. Fundamental values like truth, accountability and civility have been eroding. At the same time, a small group of ultra wealthy individuals have been able to disfigure the system by receiving benefits and advantages that have been unavailable to ordinary Americans.
So what next?
After 2025, it may take years for the federal government to put Humpty Dumpty back together again in some new, more functional fashion. But this year we can at least vote to restore the three coequal branches of the federal government, along with the independence of specific federal institutions. There should also be electoral consequences for politicians who threaten our fellow citizens in ways that incite violence—no matter which side of the political spectrum they’re on. And just as important, we should make meaningful strides at the state and local level. It is here that the revival can start.
Renewal must emerge from the grassroots—through our own personal commitments to our neighbors and our communities. It is vital that we rebuild our relationships as citizens, while revitalizing local economies. We must put aside the addiction we have developed for identifying and calling out “winners and losers.” It’s not just our leaders who have all but destroyed civil discourse in America; our population has come to mimic them, if not outdo them.
As we enter the 250th year of our founding, let’s remind ourselves that the only thing each of us can control is ourselves. Let’s not be part of the problem. Toxicity, hatred and finger-pointing never created positive outcomes. It is within our personal power to step away from the ugly fight and to reignite our connection to idealism and re-building.
We can start by modeling, for our families and our communities, positive attitudes not just about our friends, but also about people we don’t know. Let’s adhere to, and speak up for, the idea that in this country we believe that people are innocent until proven guilty.
It is up to us, this new silent majority, to get back into the game—a new game. Let’s work to assure that we leave rising generations with a clear vision of what it means to be a decent human being in these fast-changing times. The decisions our children and grandchildren will ultimately make, and the reforms they seek, could have an impact far beyond their own generation—at least for another half century.
Happy New Year. We are now at the beginning of a new and impactful twelve months!
Susan
SusanEisenhower 