Our nation is paying for Trump's refusal to be presidential

I've long argued that Donald Trump's presidency will end poorly because he's a person of bad character. I still think that's true, though I very much doubt the impeachment trial now underway will result in his removal. Regardless of its outcome, his impeachment illustrates the damage bad character can do to the presidency, the culture and the constitutional order.

In monarchies and other systems built around one-man (or one-woman) rule, the leader's quirks, obsessions or