Can America Rediscover the Spirit of 1872 in 2023?

null Dec. 28, 2023 12:42 pm ETThe U.S. Capitol, Oct. 24. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty ImagesRegarding John Harrison and Saikrishna Prakash’s op-ed “If Trump Is Disqualified, He Can Still Run” (Dec. 21): Less than four years after the 14th Amendment was ratified, Congress passed the Amnesty Act of 1872, removing the rebellion and insurrection disqualifications for most rebels. Tellingly, those excluded from amnesty include only “Senators and Representatives of the thirty-sixth and thirty-seventh Congresses, officers in the judicial, military, and naval service of the United States, heads of departments, and foreign ministers of the United States.”As the authors note, even those individuals could have their disqualification removed by Congress. If the 14th Amendment was the Union’s emotional response to the Civil War, those emotions were tempered by time and the spirit of reconciliation.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8Sponsored