How Can the Next President Heal the Country's Divide?

I write this column as the November 2024 presidential election fast approaches and before I know the outcome. I have three predictions. Actually, they are certainties: First, regardless of the margin of victory, neither candidate will have a mandate. For our country to begin to heal and for our next president to succeed, we can ill afford a sore loser or an arrogant winner. Second, the next president inherits a divided country and a dysfunctional, hyper-partisan Congress. Third, the president’s single most important responsibility is not rebuilding the economy. It’s rebuilding the human bridges of a divided nation that is coming apart at its seams. Regardless of the outcome, we intend to make the election results a teachable moment at our law school. We seek to be a place where we welcome and celebrate diverse viewpoints but where we share common values.