What Queen Elizabeth and Tom Cruise are teaching us

Now that the hundreds of hours of cable television devoted to the death of Queen Elizabeth II have (mostly) concluded, the commentary of MSNBC analyst Richard Stengel stood out. Stengel criticized the excessive reporting when there were other major news events — including the courtroom dramas over the FBI’s search warrant of former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, President Biden’s warning that American democracy is in peril (a speech the major networks didn’t broadcast) and midterm elections — that also deserved television time.

Stengel attributed the fawning coverage to “a weakness in the American character that still yearns for that era of hereditary privilege, which is the very thing that we escaped from.” Addressing his astonished panelists, he concluded, “So there, I’ve made myself the skunk at the garden party.”

During their wall-to-wall coverage, the networks continuously replayed a promise Elizabeth made in 1947 when she turned 21: “I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service.”

Elizabeth kept her word, reassuring a jittery public unnerved by the coronavirus pandemic: “Better days will return; we will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again.” Two days before her death, the queen was still at work, formally appointing Liz Truss to serve as her 15th prime minister. Her steadfastness was beloved by her subjects. Prior to her burial, Britons lined the streets of London and waited 24 hours just to catch a glimpse of her casket.

Historically, presidents were heroes who were absorbed into the mythology of American life. George Washington’s mythical cherry tree and his honesty admitting that he chopped it down was taught to children everywhere. Abraham Lincoln’s compatriots likened him to Jesus, Moses and George Washington after his assassination. Franklin Roosevelt was admired for his courageous battle against polio. In 1943, John F. Kennedy’s bravery was lauded after his boat was torpedoed during World War II, and two decades later PT-109 became a made-for-Hollywood movie.

In more recent times, Ronald Reagan was celebrated. In 1986, New York Gov. Mario Cuomo praised Reagan: “By his personal conduct when he’s shot, when he’s told he has cancer, when he goes to Normandy — the way he’s deported himself has been a moral instruction to my children.”

Ronald Reagan understood the need for heroes. His Hollywood breakout role came in 1940 when he portrayed famed Notre Dame football star George Gipp in “Knute Rockne: All American.” In a memorable scene, a dying Gipp told Coach Rockne: “Some time, Rock, when the team’s up against it and the breaks are beating the boys, tell them to go out there with all they’ve got and win just one more for the Gipper. I don’t know where I’ll be then, Rock. But I’ll know about it, and I’ll be happy.” Reagan happily assumed the moniker “The Gipper” when he entered politics.

Today, the need for heroes is acute. Sadly, the presidency is no longer a place where they can be found. Barack Obama had a compelling personal story, but his election reignited our racial animus, and he became an anathema to half the country. Joe Biden has a riveting tale of overcoming unspeakable personal adversity, but he, like Obama, has failed to unify the country. Donald Trump promised to be “presidential,” yet his conduct was deplored by elected Republicans in private and overlooked by his followers in public.

Our culture reflects our desire for heroes. During the Reagan years, “The Cosby Show”was the number one television program. Long before Bill Cosby’s fall from grace, Time magazine’s Richard Zoglin wrote, “Like Ronald Reagan, another entertainer with a warm, fatherly image who peaked relatively late in life, Cosby purveys a message of optimism and traditional family values.”

In 1993, the movie “Dave” was based on a presidential lookalike who takes over after the real president is incapacitated by a stroke. Dave ignores his advisers and does whatever is right regardless of party. Only a year before the film’s release, Ross Perot launched the most successful third-party effort since Theodore Roosevelt. Like the mythical Dave, Perot promised to be the “mechanic who’s under the hood, working on the engine” of government — politics be damned.

This year, the most popular movie is “Top Gun: Maverick,” which has posted $706 million at the box office. Reprising his 1986 role, Tom Cruise portrays a fighter pilot whose heroic aerial gymnastics overcomes danger to get the job done.

In 1981, Reagan made a nostalgic trip to Notre Dame and gave a commencement address. Remembering George Gipp, Reagan asked the graduates, “Is there anything wrong with young people having an experience, feeling something so deeply, thinking of someone else to the point that they can give so completely of themselves?” He concluded, “There will come times in all our lives when we’ll be faced with causes bigger than ourselves, and they won’t be on a playing field.”

It is in these moments when heroes are made. Queen Elizabeth and the mythical Tom Cruise met their moments and demonstrate a deeply felt longing for heroes. It’s what unites them both, and it’s what we need.

John Kenneth White is a professor of politics at The Catholic University of America. His latest book, co-authored with Matthew Kerbel, is titled “American Political Parties: Why They Formed, How They Function, and Where They’re Headed.”