I don’t admire any presidents, though a few have done some good. Instead of giving them credit for their occasional beneficence, I think of all the unnamed, unknown, everyday people who struggled against oppressive systems and institutions until they built enough power to push a president’s hand. Instead of praising our political leaders for abolishing slavery or establishing the New Deal, I save my gratitude for abolitionists and labor unions. Presidents are very important figureheads to a society so fixated upon celebrity and individualism. It’s comforting to believe that Great Men of History have ushered in revolutionary change. We like the idea of good guy saviors — perhaps especially when we fear we’ll once again be ruled by a bad guy villain.

The problem with putting a lot of faith in Great Men of History is that it becomes very difficult to criticize the rest of their record, like the war crimes. Or the slave owning. Or the sexual assault accusations. A coworker recently asked me if college students who were protesting Biden’s policy on Gaza would also say FDR was a terrible president because he oversaw internment camps for Japanese immigrants. I said, “Hell yeah! I mean, I think most presidents are pretty terrible.” She was so upset she had to walk away.

This is why I don’t often disparage Great Men of History to their fans. I really don’t like hurting other people’s feelings. Because even though I have no reverence for the GMoH, you know who I do admire and respect? Regular, everyday people. The ones who actually change history, when they’re not too busy just trying to get by and caring for the people they love. That means I’m talking about you! And not just because you’re reading my essay. Even if you’re hate-reading this, I probably respect you more than FDR. You know why? Because you haven’t overseen internment camps. It’s similar to how I like my Republican-voting coworkers better than I like Obama, because none of them embraced a wreckless, deadly campaign of drone warfare in the Middle East. Would they have done the same if they were ever in his position? That doesn’t matter to me because I know they never will be. They’re regular people, just like me. And sometimes they help me find merchandise in back stock, or hold the door when I’m pushing a cart out to the sales floor. Those relationships mean way more to me than how I feel about any world leader.

So I don’t wanna bicker with you about your favorite presidents. Because I like to not hurt your feelings. Not insulting everyday people is one of my guiding principles in life. I do hope that someday we can release our collective attachment to Great Men of History and see where the actual paradigm-shifting goodness comes from —- regular people like us working together. That’s how all progressive, historic change happens. We don’t need those freaks in D.C. to do anything but our bidding.