Gerald Ford became president of the United States nearly 50 years ago as the nation was struggling through a then-unprecedented constitutional crisis.

His predecessor resigned as the House was preparing to impeach him for covering up the Watergate scandal.

President Ford declared on Aug. 9, 1974, that “our long national nightmare is over” and then said with equal conviction, “Our Constitution works.”

I take great comfort in the former president’s words today as we watch the nation undergo yet another tumultuous time. Another former POTUS wants his job back. The current vice president is challenging as well for the title of next president.

VP Kamala Harris has laid out a fight plan: This is a fight to preserve our democratic principles against an egomaniac who would take us into a dark age of tyranny. Will that really happen? Will we actually succumb to the notions of a maniac such as Donald Trump? Or will a system built to resist such impulses come to our rescue once again, just as it did 50 years ago when Gerald Ford ascended to the Oval Office?

I am going to place my faith in the founders’ constitutional document, that it really does work and that it will perform its duties once again.

But … first things first. We need to ensure that Trump keeps his tiny but grimy hands off the levers of power. We can do that simply by performing the simplest act of citizenship.

We must vote to keep him out of office … an act that would affirm President Ford’s wisdom once again that “our Constitution works.”