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President Ronald Reagan began his first inaugural address in 1981 by reminding us thatthe orderly transfer of authority as called for in the Constitution routinely takes place, as it has for almost two centuries, and few of us stop to think how unique we really are.In the eyes of many in the world, this every four-year ceremony we accept as normal is nothing less than a miracle.

Obviously, the miracle was severely tested on Jan. 6-7, 2021.Joe Biden was only certified as the winner of the 2020 presidential election, you will recall, after a day and night of chaos and violence at the U.S. Capitol.Rioters erected makeshift gallows and chanted hang Mike Pence as others flooded the halls of Congress in search of the vice president, NPR reported, to thwart the peaceful transfer of power that has been a hallmark of modern American history.

That dark day, as Pence later called it, marked the second time in the 21st century that a vice president, while presiding over the tallying of electoral votes, had to quell efforts to overturn the results of a tumultuous presidential election.

In 2001, Vice President Al Gore oversaw the most humbling of certifications his own unsuccessful bid for the presidency in the closest election in American history.Words like fraud and disenfranchisement could be heard above the din of Republicans calling for regular order.Repeatedly, he was forced to gavel down members of the Congressional Black Caucus and others who tried to block the tallying of Floridas 25 highly contested and crucial electoral votes that made George W. Bush the nations 43rd president.

Despite the rancor in the cavernous House chamber, Gore carried out his constitutional duty with grace and humor.Three weeks earlier, a day after the Supreme Court, by a 5-4 vote in Bush v. Gore, stopped manual recounts in Florida that effectively delivered the election to Bush, Gore ended his quest for the presidency.In conceding, Gore said he strongly disagreed with the Supreme Court decision, but accepted the finality of this outcome and partisan rancor must now be put aside. This is America, and we put country before party.

Although a bare majority of Americans agreed with the Bush v. Gore decision, a Gallup Poll immediately afterwards found that 8 in 10 voters accepted Bush as the legitimate president.Clearly, how Gore handled himself following the determinative Supreme Court ruling and the electoral count had a significant effect.

How differently might history have played out on Jan. 6, 2021, if Donald Trump had not refused to concede?The Boston Globe suggested an unprecedented alternative, Mike Pence should concede the election. ... Doing so would help restore public trust in the electoral process and close the door on Trumps assault on American democracy.

While Pence did not concede, he resisted the pressure being exerted on him to try to single-handedly overturn the election.In their book Peril, Bob Woodward andRobert Costa write that Pence first reached out to former Vice President Dan Quayle, a fellow Indiana Republican, who told him not to even entertain the idea of blocking Bidens election when Congress certified the final electoral count.

Instead, Pence rewrote the vice presidential script for publicly counting electoral votes.Together with his top aides, he crafted 43 additional words that would clearly address the push by Trump allies for false slates of presidential electors.Even after the storming of the U.S. Capitol, Pence pursued his resolve to not be pressured into overturning the election.

Still for months Trump continued to claim Pence could have overturned the Election, Finally, in early February 2022, the former vice president publicly declared, President Trump is wrong, I had no right to overturn the election. The presidency belongs to the American people, and the American people alone. And frankly there is almost no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president.

Afterwards, The Wall Street Journal praised Pence for refusing to succumb to Mr. Trumps pressure. ...It was Mr. Pences finest hour.In subsequent days, most Americans also sided with Pence according to CBS News/YouGov and Quinnipiac University polls released after his speech in Orlando, Florida.

Irrespective of our party affiliation, we are all Americans.We must never forget what President Reagan said about the importance of our peaceful, orderly constitutional transfer of power.Al Gore and Mike Pence, in certainly one their most painful moments in public office, upheld their constitutional oath even when it is not politically expedient.

If we are not willing to accept election results, how is power to be passed from one leader to another in a law-abiding society in which the will of the voters governs?

Stephen W.Stathisfor nearly four decades was a specialist in American history with the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress.He is the author ofLandmark Debates in Congress from the Declaration of Independence to the War in IraqandLandmark Legislation: Major U.S. Acts and Treaties.

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Opinion: Mike Pence and the long road out of the 2020 election

Members of the Jan. 6 committee said recently they might subpoena former Vice President Mike Pence to testify about the pressure he faced from then-President Donald Trump to overturn President Biden's victory in the 2020 election. Witnesses have testified to the panel that Trump called Pence on the morning of Jan. 6 to urge him one last time to stop the certification of Trump's loss to Biden when Congress met to finalize the Electoral College results. "It started off [in a] calmer tone ... and then it became heated," former White House lawyer Eric Herschmann told the committee, according to Axios. Ivanka Trump's then-chief of staff, Julie Radford, said Trump called Pence the "p-word" for resisting.

The committee has received the accounts of several Trump and Pence aides about the call. Now it wants to hear directly from Pence about what Trump asked him to do, and why he refused to reject Biden electors to tip the election to Trump. Trump allies vilify Pence for turning down his boss in his time of need. Critics of Trump's baseless claim that he lost to Biden due to election fraud say Pence never pushed back hard enough against the Big Lie. Still others say he's a hero for braving the backlash from MAGA world and doing the right thing to ensure the peaceful transfer of power to the duly elected president. How will history remember Pence's role in the Jan. 6 saga?

Mike Pence put the nation's interests before his own on Jan. 6, says Isaac Schorr at National Review. He has his eye on the White House, so "his political interests may have been better served by lending more credence to 'stop the steal,'" to please the MAGA base. But Pence drew the line where it had to be drawn, and bravely resisted "Trump's call to try to reject the legitimate Electoral College results." His former chief of staff, Marc Short, and former chief counsel, Greg Jacob, told the Jan. 6 committee that Pence never wavered in carrying out his duties on Jan. 6, not even as Trump "egged on a mob chanting 'hang Mike Pence' by tweeting 'Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution.'" Pence, it turns out, did "have the courage to do what should have been done," and he saved the day.

A lot of liberals who used to mock Pence as spineless saw him in a new light on Jan. 6, says Kathleen Parker in The Washington Post. Not only did he stand his ground when Trump called him a "coward and worse," but he stayed at the Capitol that day as rioters shouted "Hang Mike Pence!" to do his job. Granted, he wavered before Jan. 6, and looked into whether there was a legal way to delay certification of the vote. Of course, the vice president has no right to stand in the way when Congress certifies the results of a presidential election, and Pence knew that. What he did took guts, but, remember: "Only in a country where duty has lost its currency and honesty is rare does doing the right thing rise to the level of heroic."

"I'm having a hard time joining the 'Mike Pence the Hero' bandwagon," says Bret Stephens at The New York Times. Why didn't he speak up in November when "Trump started lying" about the fact that Biden beat him? Or when Team Trump hired dodgy lawyers to "peddle insane conspiracy theories about voting machines and preposterous interpretations of the Electoral Count Act?" Pence is no hero. He's "a worm who, for a few hours on Jan. 6, turned into a glowworm."

If Pence felt heroic on Jan. 6, he got over it, says Inae Oh at Mother Jones. This week, he told Fox News Digital Monday that the Jan. 6 committee's public hearings were part of a Democratic political plot to, and I quote, "use that tragic day to distract attention from their failed agenda or to demean the intentions of 74 million Americans who rallied behind our cause." The man is flirting with his former boss' "election lies," there. He also claimed to be concerned about "voting irregularities" in the 2020 election, and insisted that he and Trump had talked out their differences. In another Fox News interview, he said Biden lies more than any president in his lifetime, proving unequivocally that he's still a "mealymouthed Trump stooge."

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Is Mike Pence a hero? - The Week

The past couple of weeks have been filled with controversial and historic events, and were not even halfway through summer. Amid all this, it seems like some Republicans tread lightly on certain issues, while others do not.

In the aftermath of Roe v. Wades overturning, Republican candidates wonder how it will alter the 2024 election.

In the Republican Party, there is a debate underway about whether the ruling could come back to haunt candidates in future elections, the Washington Post writes.

A Republican strategist believes the GOP candidates that lean further to the Right on abortion could sabotage their chances in the general election.

The safest place for Republicans is to say, Send it to the states," the strategist said.

But downplaying the decision wont make you a more desirable candidate. Those that have a clear platform and stance on important issues will be able to distinguish who will and will not support them.

For example, former Vice President Mike Pence has been very vocal about his thoughts on the overturning of Roe.

We must not rest and must not relent until the sanctity of life is restored to the center of American law in every state in the land, Pence tweeted.

Even as the former governor of Indiana, Pence made an effort to sign as many pro-life bills as he could. From the start, it has been clear where Pence stands on abortion. Other potential candidates? Not so much. Its not about if they support the court's decision but rather how far they will personally go to uproot abortion rights.

Pence has set the standard, calling for a nationwide ban, while other candidates avoid such language.

Gov. Ron DeSantis says Florida will work to expand pro-life protections, and will stand for life.

While many Republican politicians support the Dobbs decision, calling for an increase in adoption, welfare, and aid for struggling families, others have a more moderate approach.

Most of the people I talk to believe there ought to be reasonable restrictions and reasonable exceptions, Florida Sen. Rick Scott said. But every candidates going to decide where they are.

Scott has endorsed banning abortion after 15 weeks. He has been more focused on enacting legislation that protects family welfare than furthering abortion bans.

Because that is the solution for most Republicans to combat the growing issue of abortion rights, the 2024 GOP field will be somewhat fragmented. For them, life either begins at conception, or it doesn't. They are either pro-life or not.

The last thing these candidates need to do is hide behind the promise of increased welfare and protection for struggling women yet fail to advance abortion bans.

Yes, increasing aid to those who need help is essential, but running a campaign that says just that and avoiding the actual debate on abortion laws will not make for an honest candidate. Voters need to know where these candidates clearly stand on issues that will contribute to the 2024 election results. They need to stop being wishy-washy and tell the people what they really think.

Esther Wickham is a summer 2022Washington Examinerfellow.

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This is not the time to be wishy-washy - Washington Examiner

President Joe Bidens effort to trash the patriotic MAGA movement reveals the desperation of a flailing and floundering administration, according to former Vice President Mike Pence.

Pence responded to Bidens attacks on the movement, known by the acronym for former President Donald Trumps Make America Great Again slogan, during an interview with Fox News on Saturday prior to speaking at Patrick Henry College in Virginia.

Let me tell you about this ultra MAGA agenda. Its extreme, as most MAGA things are, Biden said during a news conference last week.

What are the next things that are going to be attacked? Because this MAGA crowd is really the most extreme political organization thats existed in American history in recent American history, he said.

Pences defense came despite efforts to paint him as a critic of the MAGA movement following the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when some narratives pointed to the then-vice president as a target of those who stormed the Capitol.

With all due respect, President Biden sounds desperate, Pence said. It sounds like the rhetoric of an administration grasping for straws.

I mean, look, the presidents approval rating speaks for itself. He is exploring the bowels of American approval numbers in modern history. And its because the American people see the failed policies of this administration at home and abroad, he said.

Pence said Bidens efforts to trash the MAGA movement smeared millions of Americans.

Do you agree with Pence?

Yes: 99% (224 Votes)

No: 1% (2 Votes)

And I think theres no amount of, you know, any effort by this administration to demean the 74 million people that supported this [MAGA] movement. And millions of Americans who know our economy can be strong, our borders can be secure, and that America can be respected on the world stage and our values can be respected in our courts, [values] that they love, he said, according to Fox News.

The former vice president said Biden will spur MAGA supporters to even more activism by demeaning them.

That kind of rhetoric [by Biden] will only serve to motivate people that share our values and our vision for the country to turn out to vote, Pence said.

Now with regard to its impact on elections, I must tell you that, look, the failed policies of the Biden administration are almost too many to recount, he said. The disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, the emboldening of the enemies of freedom around the world. The inflation at a 40-year high, the worst border crisis in history, a crime wave in our cities. All are a testament to the failed left-wing policies of the Biden administration.

And I fully expect that voters are going to carry their strong feelings about that into the voting booth.

Pence said the renewed debate over abortion that has come amid a leaked draft opinion that indicates five justices could support overturning the Roe v. Wade decision crystallizes the differences between parties.

I honestly believe that there is no more important issue in the life of the nation than the sanctity of life, he said. And so for me, thats where this debate lies.

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Pence Takes Massive Stand for MAGA, Blasts Biden's Charges Against ...

WASHINGTON The fate of a sycophant is never a happy one.

At first, you think that fawning over the boss is a good way to move forward. But when you are dealing with a narcissist and narcissists are the ones who like to be surrounded by sycophants you can never be unctuous enough.

Narcissists are Grand Canyons of need. The more they are flattered, the more their appetite for flattery grows.

That is the hard, almost fatal, lesson Pence learned on Jan. 6, when he finally stood up to Donald Trump after Trump asked for one teensy favor: Help destroy American democracy and all we stand for.

Two new photos shown at a hearing of the House committee investigating Jan. 6 tell a shocking story one of the most incredible in our nations history.

In one, Karen Pence is protectively pulling a gold-fringed curtain shut in the vice presidents ceremonial office in the Capitol, off the Senate floor, as Pence sitting beneath a large gilt mirror stares off into space, probably wondering where it all went wrong.

We learned this week that when the vice president fled down the stairs, followed by an Air Force officer carrying the nuclear launch codes, the marauding mob was a few feet from him.

In a second picture, taken after Pence was brought to a secure location in an underground garage, his daughter Charlotte is anxiously watching him. He is holding a phone to his ear as he stares at another phone showing a video of Trump professing love for the crowd, which included some who carried baseball bats and zip ties and chanted Hang Mike Pence!

In the early afternoon, as the crowd tore down barricades and fought police, White House staffers worried things were getting out of hand, as Sarah Matthews, a Trump aide, testified.

They thought that the president needed to tweet something immediately. At 2:24 p.m., they got a notification that the president had indeed tweeted. But it was not the calming tweet they had hoped for; it was one designed to drive the rioters into a frenzy.

Mike Pence didnt have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify, Trump tweeted. USA demands the truth!

As Matthews recalled in her deposition, The situation was already bad, and so it felt like he was pouring gasoline on the fire by tweeting that.

Trump was still steaming from the contentious morning phone call when he failed to persuade the vice president to reject some of the states electors so they could be replaced with fake electors who supported Trump. He had railed at Pence with emasculating epithets.

As Trump recalled in a speech on Friday in Nashville, I said to Mike, If you do this, you can be Thomas Jefferson. And then, after it all went down, I looked at him one day and said, I hate to say this, but youre no Thomas Jefferson.

In the same speech, Trump had another line that was strikingly delusional, even for him. For the radical left, he said, politics has become their religion. It has warped their sense of right and wrong. They dont have a sense of right and wrong, true and false, good and evil.

Trump sparked the mob to seek vengeance against Pence the same way Henry II sparked a crew to murder Thomas Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury, in 1170. According to legend, after Becket defied Henry by excommunicating bishops supportive of the king, Henry muttered something to the effect of, Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest? Four knights immediately rode to Canterbury Cathedral and sliced up Becket.

The line became a famous example of directing loyalists with indirection, cloaking an order as a wish. Who will rid me of this meddlesome vice president?

A Times video, showing how the Proud Boys breached the Capitol, underscored that within the confederacy of dunces, there was an actual organized conspiracy. The group began plotting even before the election to take up arms for Trump. When Trump barked Stand back and stand by about the Proud Boys during his debate with Joe Biden, the Proud Boys felt as though they had received a directive, like Henrys knights.

With each hearing, it becomes clearer that Trump has no plausible deniability. He put the lives of the vice president and his family at risk, as well as the lives of lawmakers, by sending a crowd, stewing in lies, into a frenzy.

Pence did not have the power to do what Trump wanted, and its good that he resisted the insane, illegal and unconstitutional plan of the narcissist in the Oval. But Pence still wants it both ways. He has steered clear of the committee. He wants to become president by staying on the good side of Trump supporters, but theyre never going to forgive him.

At the end of the day of infamy, John Eastman, the nutty lawyer trying to help Trump overturn the election, sent an email imploring Pence to adjourn the congressional certification so sympathetic state legislators could help with Trumps fairy tale of a rigged election.

When Greg Jacob, Pences counsel, showed the email to the vice president, Pence said, Thats rubber room stuff.

The fate of a sycophant is never a happy one.

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Opinion | Hence, Mike Pence - The New York Times