5 November—On this day—Election Day 1940—Franklin Roosevelt was elected to his third consecutive term as President of the United States. On this day—Election Day 2024—Donald Trump was elected to his second, non-consecutive and (since the 22^nd Amendment was ratified in 1951) constitutionally limited last term. But when has the Constitution, when has law, when has decency ever stopped Donald Trump from doing anything he damn well wanted to do? Ever. Even before his loyal Supreme Court majority effectively made him not just a super-unitary executive but an absolute monarch exempt from punishment who was therefore unaccountable for his heinous actions.

Now consider the Latin phrase primus inter pares. It means “first among equals.” It’s commonly used for a person who is formally equal rather than superior to other members of a given group but traditionally, because of seniority in office or privileged birth, for instance, is accorded additional—usually unofficial, informal—respect. Thus a first among equals is accorded respect rather than actual authority or power, although he may also be accorded various privileges.

Primus inter pares is an intriguing concept, to say the least. Monarchs and tyrants who enjoy unbridled power aren’t considered first among equals, of course, simply because no one in theory and/or practice is equal to them in their own milieux. History tells us that Henry VIII, Adolf Hitler, and Joseph Stalin, for three, exercised absolute, unlimited power, so they clearly weren’t primi inter pares.

But you’d think that a democratically elected American president—well, a semi-democratically elected president, anyway, given the democracy-bashing Electoral College—would be a first among equals.

Well, think again. Because even before Trump’s SCOTUS made him unpunishable, the Constitution made POTUS—any POTUS—pretty damn near omnipotent. That’s what a unitary executive is all about. For better or worse, the Constitution vests the entirety of ultimate executive power in a single person, the President of the United States.

The President of the United States has powers above and beyond those of any other (mere) person or legislative or executive body. As well as head of state, he’s commander-in-chief of the armed forces, for instance, and can order troops to do all manner of questionable things. And he can issue executive orders about virtually anything, even without legislative approval.

That’s not being first among equals. It’s raw power and privilege, and it demands uncompromised integrity, reason, responsibility, and sanity. Happily, American presidents have generally exhibited those qualities. Sadly—for America and the world—Donald Trump possesses none of those qualities . . .