Nadene Goldfoot
US Embassy in Jerusalem
The most memorable act in 2,000 years for Jews has been the re-birth of Israel on May 14, 1948 with US President Harry Truman giving the go-ahead for the deal with his voting first for Israel in the UN. This was followed up 70 years later with Donald Trump moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, and by doing so, saying that he recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. This has since remained a debatable issue with the rest of the world. Imagine! Jerusalem had been the capital since King David in 1010 BCE, and that hadn't changed until the Roman Attack in 70 CE, but held again by Bar Kokhba for 3 years from 132 to 135CE- almost 2,000 years of control of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem was regained in the 1967 attack, this time by all the surrounding Arab nations, and lo and behold--Israel won this battle.
By comparison, Washington DC has been the USA's capital since about 1800, but was planned for in 1790. Then it was burned down in 1814. It is precious to every American. At the most, you can say it's 231 years old. I hope everyone understands that when a capital is yours for 2,000 years, it's most precious to you.
That Donald Trump was responsible for the USA's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital was monumental. He not only did that, but many other acts that Israel appreciated greatly. His guide in his positive acts towards Israel came about through his beloved daughter's marriage to a modern orthodox Jew, Jared Kushner, also in the real-estate business. Jared keeps a kosher home with a wife who has converted. Both of them are personal friends of Benjamin Netanyahu, PM of Israel.
Trump has been looked upon with great favor in Israel and the USA for his actions. Many American presidents have promised to do such a thing as have the embassy in Jerusalem, capital of Israel, but never have followed through. Trump did it. For this, he has been compared to great men of the past who had also done great things for Israel; even thought of as the possible future Messiah by a few rabbis. Another great thing he did was tap for the UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley. She was the best; an unbelievable woman. After writing publicly that Trump had gone down the wrong path and that the Republicans were wrong to follow him, she may be the presidential candidate for the Republicans in 2024. She could win.
He could have rested on his laurels, forever loved by Israelis and Jews everywhere who value this act of his; a first in so long of assistance to this tiny state of people who are the oldest religious minority in this world. This was an important event. Trump was unique among men. Indeed, why anyone would want to take on the responsibility of being the president of such as huge country must be questioned. We can say that anyone in his right mind would not dare to be in such a position of responsibility. It takes certain needs, certain rewards for the few who try to attain the presidency. As time has shown us, his needs and rewards were so strong that he could not live without them; and so he has stumbled and has fallen from grace by his acts on January 6th. Did he ignore the fact that he had already been tried for impeachment well into his term? He wasn't impeached that time, but it certainly was a warning.
The vote is not yet in, and there are not enough Republicans to change their positions, putting their common sense aside in favor of the life of their political party, but Trump will not be impeached. Yet his reputation has been entirely besmirched, ruined. The world has tapes of the discussions, presentations and the pictures that have appeared of the mob hysteria in Congress and the attacks, hearing of all the injuries of so many police that were attacked of violent mob behaviors. People who have dared to watch TV have seen and heard the horror of that day. They have seen Trump in videos telling his attentive constituents what to do and that he would march with them.
The words he used were the ammunition that will bury him in the votes against him. Everything had been documented. He will not go to jail or be fined any money. It doesn't happen in an impeachment. That doesn't mean that he won't lose money now that he's out of office, though. Many people might be ready to have their case heard against him in different courts. He has fallen from grace.
His reputation is ruined. That harms his family as well, and those who stood close to him in the end, you can be sure. He'll go down as the worst American president who actually told people to attack our government and to kill Nancy Pelosi and hang his vice president, Mike Pence. Mob violence took his word for it and would have done so had they found them; but luckily they got away. It was traumatic for everyone in that building. Trump acted like the coach in the locker room warming up his players to win that football game! Only this was life and death!
He put Jerusalem in jeopardy. The fear was that Biden would undo all that Trump had done for Israel, like the embassy. Biden has said now that he will not move the embassy. We pray that he will keep this promise.
Other presidents have fallen from their grace but not quite as seriously as this attack on our government which hasn't happened since 1814 when Britain burned the White House down.
Most recently was Bill Clinton 1993-2001 when he dallied with a young girl sexually close to his office quarters. In November 1995, President Bill Clinton began an affair with 22-year-old Monica Lewinsky, who had begun an unpaid internship in the office of White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta that summer and earned a paid position in the White House that December. From taking the country out of the red and into the black financially, he muddied up his reputation with unacceptable sexual behavior. It seems that when a man gains power, he expects to have his secret desires.
Richard Nixon 1969-1974 muddied up his resume as well. In June 1972, two months before President Richard Nixon was officially nominated for re-election by the Republican Party, five men were arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee's headquarters at the Watergate Complex in Washington. Some 69 government officials were eventually charged in connection with a broader scandal, including much of Nixon's inner circle. Nixon resigned under the threat of impeachment in 1974.
Andrew Johnson, 1865-1869 , the president after Abe Lincoln, was impeached. After President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, his vice president Andrew Johnson moved into the White House. Although Johnson had supported the Union, he opposed giving freed slaves the right to vote and other Reconstruction efforts in the years following the Civil War. In doing so, he often butted heads with the abolitionist Radical Republicans, who controlled Congress. This shows that Lincoln had double problems as president in freeing slaves.
In 1867, Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act and overrode Johnson's veto. The law kept Johnson from dismissing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, an appointment of Lincoln and supporter of the Radical Republicans' policies, without Senate approval. Johnson defied the law and attempted to fire Stanton anyway. The House voted to impeach Johnson. After a long trial, Congress fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority needed to remove Johnson from office. 
In 1922, President Warren Harding's interior secretary, Albert Fall-former Senator, arranged for the Department of Interior to gain control of oil reserves on federal land in Wyoming. Fall then awarded no-bid contracts to private oil companies, giving them lucrative rights to extract oil and gas from the land. Fall was found guilty and became the first former Cabinet member to go to prison. 
Other famous people have climbed the mountain of success only to fall down to the bottom. Bill Cosby was like a relative to all of us, so familiar we were with his role on TV and his likability. Then we found out he was just a sex maniac having sex with every woman he met in real life. It was such a disappointment and certainly hurt the Black reputation. When a minority turns up with a red herring in their group, it harms the whole group. Just as when a minority has a successful hero, it raises the reputation of the whole group.
It's a grave and great disappointment to those who saw his actions go in the direction of helping Israel when no other president could do it, and then witness such a 180 degree in behaviors; from the best to the worst of acts. it was a betrayal to all.
Update: 2/13/2021 8:36pm: https://youtu.be/HrvtEBh-j-A Mitch McConnell speech after the voting -he's the head Republican, telling it like it was; something you'd never understand if just listening to the lawyers......
Resource:
https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/slideshows/the-7-worst-us-presidential-scandals?slide=5
Impeachment trial; CNN, ABC, Feb 10-11
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