In a race commonly referred to as the “ugliest election season of all time,” many voters are just as eager to express their readiness for it to all be over as they are to tell of their fear for America’s future.

Regardless of whether you’re “with her” or if you want to “make America great again,” it is our duty as citizens of the United States to support our president, even if we have to grin and bear it.

This election has been far from civil. The Morning Conduct carried out a survey asking voters who disapproved of the two candidates about the reasons for their views. To nobody’s surprise, Clinton haters called her a liar, and 56 percent of voters think Trump is a racist. So why should anyone look up to either of these two as our president?

Well, the answer lies in our country’s roots. America has always been a nation driven by compromise: it is what allows us to function and thrive as a country. Our unique ability to work together despite sometimes having starkly differing opinions is imperative for finding middle ground on important issues and ultimately solving them.

Generally we live in a country where there is a division of power amongst the two major political parties. It is rare for Democrats or Republicans to hold the White House as well as a majority in both houses of Congress, meaning that most of American history has been comprised of inter-party collaboration.

When we sacrifice our willingness to cooperate we give up our power to solve problems and continue to move forward as a nation. Part of what makes our political system so special is that we don’t quit. Every four years roughly half the population is disappointed by the outcome of the presidential election, and that’s just the nature of the system. However upsetting the result may be to some people, we all continue to work together in the meantime, and the losers simply try again in four years.

The worst decision Americans can truly make is to fail to honor the sacred electoral system that holds our great nation together. These next four years will be one the most consequential periods of modern American history, and we cannot look at issues like the war on terror and restoring the American economy with minds turned away from the idea of collaboration.

We could all spend the next four years complaining about how this November forced us to choose between the lesser of two evils, but where would that get us? I implore you, in an election season overrun by paranoia and hate, to see our next president as the leader of our nation, not the face of the party you didn’t vote for.