Iowa kids, and politicians, need to know civics — and also compromise

• Rodney B. Dieser is a professor of health, recreation, and community services at the University of Northern Iowa.
• He works part-time as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor at Wartburg College in Waverly.
• The views in this piece are solely his own.

Gov. Kim Reynolds this month introduced legislation to improve students’ understanding of civics education. Reynolds’ bill would require high school students to score 60% or higher on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Naturalization Test to graduate.

How wonderful! I think anyone running for political office should also be able to pass the exam so they can realize that the psychological soul of the Constitution is compromise. I am shocked at how many political leaders in both parties cannot seem to find middle ground, how much political hatred there is, and the lack of civility by political leaders. George Washington’s worry in his farewell address was hyper-polarization.

Part of civic education needs to underscore this straightforward point: There are 435 seats in the federal House of Representatives (100 seats in the Iowa House of Representatives), and that middle-ground solution is what the Constitution embodies. Our Founding Fathers set this example during the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.

In December 2022, I became naturalized as a U.S. citizen and pledged my allegiance to the United States flag — a promise of loyalty. This event occurred in a small room at the Neal Smith Federal Building in Des Moines. It was a sacred moment. I had met Sen. Chuck Grassley at the Cenex gas station in Cedar Falls a few months prior; we spoke for about 20 minutes, and I was so moved by his everyday-ness I had thought of seeing if he was in his office that day to get a photo with him (I do not approve of all of his policies).

The year before, I read seven books on American democracy and the U.S. Constitution, all by distinguished historians and constitutional scholars. Perhaps the most paramount was “The Words That Made Us: America’s Constitutional Conversation, 1760-1840″ by Akhil Reed Amar.

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Many (but not all) of the Founding Fathers could find a middle ground, adapt, change and meet others in the equidistant. When I read Amar’s books and Ron Chernow’s biography of George Washington, it was obvious that what made Washington great was cognitive agility — the ability to be open-minded and change views. I’ve noted the same quality in our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln. Washington and Lincoln are considered the two greatest presidents in our nation, and both had this ability to listen to understand (not listening to respond and argue) and finding a middle ground.

Underlying Lincoln’s achievements and speeches was his ability to be open-minded, to change his thoughts and opinions, and to listen and learn from others, including those who had opposing viewpoints and were cruel to him. This ability to thoughtfully consider different perspectives and opinions is, in psychology, called cognitive elasticity or cognitive flexibility. Conversely, cognitive inflexibility predicts extremist attitudes. I believe Lincoln’s greatness flowed from his esteem for compromise. Let me provide one example; I wrote about it previously in the Deseret News, about six months after I became a citizen.

Edwin M. Stanton served as the nation’s secretary of war under Lincoln and is credited with turning a deeply dysfunctional War Department into a high-functioning agency that helped the North win the war. What is noteworthy about the Lincoln-Stanton relationship, however, was Lincoln’s attitude toward Stanton. Lincoln first met Stanton in the summer of 1855, seven years before Stanton would serve as secretary of war; in short, Stanton treated Lincoln with contempt. This stemmed from a court case involving both men, McCormick v. Manny, which pitted outstanding patent lawyers against each other.

Lincoln had been asked by George Harding (representing Manny) to prepare legal briefs, as the trial was to be held in Chicago, and Harding wanted a local lawyer who understood Illinois law. When the case was transferred to Cincinnati, Harding removed Lincoln from the case and partnered with the powerful and brilliant Stanton. However, Lincoln was not informed of his removal, so he continued to work on the case and traveled to Cincinnati to be part of the Harding team.

After Lincoln and Stanton met, Stanton took Harding aside and reportedly called Lincoln a “long-armed ape” and said “He does not know anything and can do you no good.” In those days, traveling lawyers stayed at the same hotel and ate meals together, but Stanton and Harding excluded Lincoln and would not invite him to their table for meals or to chat. However, Lincoln’s cognitive elasticity took over as he stayed in Cincinnati for the entire week, where he wanted to study how a magnificent and nationally known lawyer (Stanton) argued a case.

So moved by Stanton’s work and legal argument, Lincoln recalled that he stood in “rapt attention” and later revealed to friends Ralph E. Emerson and his wife, Adaline Elizabeth Talcott Emerson, that he had never witnessed such a brilliant and thoroughly prepared presentation. He determined from the experience that he should study the law better to improve his skills.

Lincoln had the cognitive flexibility to direct his mind to learn from someone who treated him poorly. In today’s political divisiveness and conflict climate, what Lincoln did is practically unimaginable. At their subsequent encounter, six years later, Lincoln offered Stanton the most powerful Cabinet post because he knew he needed Stanton’s superb skill set to win the Civil War.

Four hundred thirty-five seats in the House of Representatives (100 in Iowa) require the ability to give and take, something that I wish more government leaders on both sides of the aisle could role model. Compromise is the psychological soul of the Constitution.  

Rodney B. Dieser is the author of seven books and over 150 articles. He is a professor of health, recreation, and community services at the University of Northern Iowa and works part-time as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor at Wartburg College in Waverly. He lives in Cedar Falls. The views in this piece are solely his own. Contact: [email protected].