But the first 16 months of Milley’s term, a period that ended when Joe Biden succeeded Donald Trump as president, were not normal, because Trump was exceptionally unfit to serve. “For more than 200 years, the assumption in this country was that we would have a stable person as president,” one of Milley’s mentors, the retired three-star general James Dubik, told me. That this assumption did not hold true during the Trump administration presented a “unique challenge” for Milley, Dubik said.
IMO the lawlessness of Trump’s 4 years in office and the 2 failed impeachment convictions are ample evidence that the answer to that question is “No.”
Trump may be facing consequences for his actions now, but he could easily have remained in office for another 4 years, pardoned himself and avoided any federal charges.
Trump’s insurrection would have succeeded if there weren’t people who refused to go along with it. Military leaders literally came out before the election and announced that that military would not become involved in the politics of the election. Pence refused to get in a Secret Service SUV so he could be removed from the capitol.
Clearly the way Trump’s insurrection failed and the Senate’s failure to remove him for what were clearly high crimes are indications that we are a nation of men, not of laws - the opposite of what the Constitution’s authors intended.