Restoring Civility in a Time of Anger, Vindictiveness, and Polarization in our Politics

In a Foreword to New Book by Lanny Davis, President Clinton and I Lay Out Principles That Made Our Country Better and Can Transcend Its Divisions

Foreword to “Finding the Third Way: Lessons in the Politics of Civility Through My Journey Through History,” by Lanny J. Davis…With Carl Cannon

By Former President Bill Clinton and Al From, founder of the Democratic Leadership Council

We come from very different backgrounds. One of us comes from a small town in rural Arkansas, the other from a medium-sized old industrial city in the Northern Indiana. We were both inspired by the spirit and civic ethic of President John F. Kennedy. Neither of us came from money, but both are beneficiaries of the American dream. Our belief that all Americans should be able the chase that dream eventually brought us together to work to change our country for the better.

After the Democratic Party’s three landslide losses in presidential elections in the 1980s, we joined forces in the Democratic Leadership Council to revitalize America and redefine our party — with an agenda designed to meet our current challenges and able to win the support of a majority of the American people. That effort animated the New Democrat movement and was critical to President Clinton’s winning the White House in 1992.

At its core were the principles that shaped our own political philosophies and guided our careers — opportunity for all, responsibility from all, and a community of all our people. Those principles were at the heart of what President Clinton called The New Covenant. We believed that government’s responsibility was to provide the opportunity for every American to rise as far as his or her talents would allow — and that the peoples’ responsibility was to take advantage of those opportunities and give something back to their country and communities.

With the help of a lot of dedicated people who often knew more about important issues than we did, we developed an agenda of bold and innovative ideas to further those principles. Then we travelled to about two dozen states —red, blue, and swing states — before the 1992 campaign began to talk to a cross section of Americans about how we could refine those ideas to best serve their needs.

As president, Bill Clinton put those ideas into action, and the American people were all the better for it. The result was eight years of peace and prosperity.

This approach to governing and problem solving came to be called the Third Way. We rejected governing from the extremes. But we didn’t just try to split the difference between the left and right. As former British Prime Minister Tony Blair — whose New Labor embraced the Third Way — often said: The Third Way is not a compromise between liberal and conservative, it is the modernization of liberalism.

Because our ideas transcended the old labels, they earned the support of voters from all parts of the political spectrum.

Despite the anger, vindictiveness, and polarization that has often been successful in contemporary politics, we still believe that ideas matter in politics, that what you stand for matters, and that honorable compromise and constructive cooperation can emerge from serious differences through debates that are civil and honest, where people have our country’s best interest at heart.

Lanny Davis is our compatriot in Third Way politics. He has been a friend to both of us for more than half a century — long before we even knew each other. Lanny has lived a lifetime of service to his country — and now he’s written about how his incredible life experiences led him to believe in the Third Way and the importance or civility in politics.

Lanny spent much of his political life as a deep blue Democrat. But throughout his remarkable career he has befriended, worked with, and learned from leaders on both sides of the political aisle. In recent years, he wrote a regular column called
“Purple Nation,” where he proposed Third Way ideas that could earn the support of both Red and Blue State voters.

He wrote this book after the 2024 election and, in the Epilogue, he exhorts political leaders on both sides — even in these most difficult and highly polarized times — to learn from, listen to, and respect each other.

Many might see the title of Lanny’s book and react – this is not the right time to write about finding common ground. We’re facing a radical assault on our democracy, our Constitution, our public servants, and our humanitarian, economic, and security alliances around the world.

Today’s polarizing abuses of power and lack of compassion in our politics should remind Americans that we need civility and the effort to find common ground now more than ever. That’s what Lanny Davis is trying to say in this book.

Finding the Third Way: Lessons in the Politics of Civility Through My Journey Through History,” by Lanny J. Davis…With Carl Cannon is available on Amazon and other book outlets,