As the presidential election grumbles and stumbles its way toward the finish line, I find myself remembering an event from my past that I would like to share.

In 1959, I was a sophomore in high school in Libby. Like this year’s election, the presidential race was close, Nixon/Lodge vs. Kennedy/Johnson. I remember a conversation with our math teacher about the candidates. He supported Nixon.

But the day after the election when he entered our classroom, he did a remarkable thing, one I have never forgotten. He picked up what appeared to be a bumper sticker, and he put it on the board. It read: Kennedy/Johnson. “This is our president,” he said.

So simple, yet so calm, so classy, so much a teaching moment. Most importantly, so patriotic. May we in Libby, in Montana, in these United States of America have the same grace and will to do the same. —Marv Sather, Libby