How do we understand Pence? He will probably be remembered for January the 6th. He sought advice from Quayle as his friend and from Luttig as a constitution scholar ( as was Eastman) and did the right thing.
Vice Presidents are usually kept in the background. I have to go online to check who was the Vice President for certain presidents. They are hard to remember. A notable exception is Biden and Obama. A pity Biden can’t do the same for Kamala and have a better relationship.
Loyalty is essential, and Pence was loyal, but when history beckoned to stand out and be counted as a patriot, Pence heard the call and responded. The country survived an insurrection of misguided and manipulated Trumpers both inside Congress and out. Pence then receded out of focus to a blur to let the deceiver-in-chief regain something of what he lost. He had a chance to be a Moses and lead the Republican party to a better place. Maybe his strength petered out (fizzled out might be a better word—the sparkler fizzled out).
Maybe individuals are called to moments in history to give their all, prepared for the moment through their life choices. Can we imagine anyone other than Lincoln steering the country through the Civil War or FDR during the Depression and World War 2?
Pence panders now, as does most of the Republican party, to the worst angels of our nature, trying to gain that small part of the electorate who care nothing about our democracy or the Constitution. I hope the sparkler who was Pence still has something left before he fizzles out completely.
Observational Learning and Writing 