Three who personify civility

By Mike Spohn
Reston

In these days when so many politicians do not seem to know the difference between criticism and leadership, it was reassuring in the past week to see two wonderful examples in The Post of public figures displaying class.

First, former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice showed real grace and class on her book tour [“Rice focuses on the personal, not political,” news, 9Oct. 16]. To the obvious dismay of her many interviewers (and probably her publisher), she refused to criticize either the current administration’s foreign policy or people in the former administration with whom she had policy differences.

Second, in the Oct. 17 Post, D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and outgoing Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee took the high road in asking support for presumptive mayor-elect Vincent C. Gray and the school administration in their efforts to help D.C. schools continue to improve [“We did our best. Now it’s up to you,” Outlook].

I thank the three of them for bringing some civility to our world.