What the history books don’t, but should, teach us.

The song that bears the title of this piece is the one you most likely hear when attending a graduation ceremony. You wouldn’t hear it played at a Sophomore end of year party, any more than you’d hear it played on the senior class trip. No, Pomp and Circumstance is a tradition that signifies a graduation and its celebratory tone is intended only for that occasion.

Similarly, it is only acceptable to play the one and only presidential march, entitled Hail to the Chief, after the new president of the United States has been inaugurated. Written by Albert Ganse and set to music by James Sanderson, Hail to the Chief was made the official music to announce the president in 1954. One rarely hears the words, but they are illustrative.

Hail to the Chief we have chosen for the nation,
Hail to the Chief! We salute him, one and all.
Hail to the Chief, as we pledge cooperation
In proud fulfillment of a great, noble call.

Yours is the aim to make this grand country grander,
This you will do, that’s our strong, firm belief.
Hail to the one we selected as commander,
Hail to the President! Hail to the Chief!

Notice the emphasis in the words. But today, like so many other things in this campaign, basic respect for the traditions developed and adopted in this great democracy have been thrown aside.

This morning’s radio wake up call alerted me once again to this fact. The news was focused on Obama’s rallies yesterday. The words were said against the backdrop of the full presidential march. When the first two stanzas of the march stopped, the newscaster turned to McCain, and his attempts to pull out the stops for victory at the last minute. No music – nor should there have been. But clearly a demonstration of having declared victory for one candidate over another before election day when the vast majority of Americans will cast their vote.

As a political scientist by education, and one who believes that every American should know why and how this country was founded if they are going to be effective and participatory citizens, I am appalled by the lack of regard for order, customs and yes, rules, that have been adopted and carefully tested over time to allow for deliberation and thoughtful discourse. Our founding fathers – and the mothers that kept the fires burning at home while they created this land – provided for a representative democracy that requires both the ongoing self-education and purposeful self-control of each individual citizen. This was necessary, they reasoned, so that together we may form a citizenry that is greater as a whole, while also respectful of its divergent component parts.

That we now have fun with Saturday Night Live or other satires is an appropriate expression of our evolving sense of humor. That we disregard the ceremony only appropriate to a singular chief executive at the top of our government’s executive branch, however, is to fundamentally reject any right understanding of that office’s unique place and privileges.

The sad reality is that our own high school students can barely identify what the American revolution is; most cannot find Japan on a map and our knowledge of civics and history is so basic that it compromises what it means to be living in a representative democracy, where we make policy by those we choose to represent us.

A general election is not supposed to be about popularity, what color or age you are, or even whether you can recite the names of leaders from obscure but important countries. This election is supposed to be about choosing a person whose honor and integrity will lead all of us – despite differences – to do the right things with regard to how we live.

I called the radio station after I awoke fully – something I’ve never done before, to complain that Hail to the Chief was used this morning to surround the newscast. I received a call back from the show’s host, who apologized but explained that they’ve used the march on and off for months for either or both candidates. I thanked him for the call, but reminded him that the march is actually only fitting for a president – one that’s been elected, not predicted to take office.

As I hung up I could not help but think the radio host really didn’t understand why it was such a big deal, why a great tradition of electing, inaugurating and celebrating the peaceful transition of power to a new president is what makes our nation unique and superior and so the customs and honor afforded that person are due to that person at that time alone.

But this sort of thing isn’t taught much anymore in our schools. The textbooks and programs in most schools – public or private – are more concerned with giving every one and every point of view a paragraph. You have to find a really focused school to find it otherwise.

And so just as we’ve raised several generations of students whose basic skills have sent US companies abroad to recruit talent, so too are we raising a generation of citizens who do not know how and why we got here and what it means to be an American.

Yes, that includes playing the presidential march only at the appropriate time.

Jeanne Allen, President, The Center for Education Reform
Casey Carter, Senior Fellow, The Center for Education Reform