While he remained as AG, Sessions continued to do important work as our chief law enforcer. More importantly, he made it unlikely that Trump would fire Mueller while Sessions remained on the job.

Had Trump fired Mueller, and had Sessions resigned over this, we’d have seen another Saturday Night Massacre, like the one in 1973 when Nixon asked Attorney General Elliot Richardson to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox. Rather than do so, Richardson resigned, as Nixon was forced to do 10 months later.

Gratitude isn’t a word that comes to mind when one thinks of Trump. But no one better defended his administration than Jeff Sessions. Historians will record that he held the country together, and he’s someone to whom we all owe our thanks.