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The Jefferson Memorial resembled a white beacon in a sea of darkness on a cool fall evening in Washington, D.C.

Walking under a full moon, I pondered the meaning of Thomas Jefferson's idealistic writings during a presidential election filled with rancor.

"Almighty God hath created the mind free," read one panel. "All attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens ... are a departure from the plan of the Holy Author of our religion ... No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship or ministry or shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief, but all men shall be free to profess and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion. I know but one code of morality for men whether acting singly or collectively."

And this one:

"I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors."

Our evening stroll continued.

The next stop was the Franklin Roosevelt Monument. Busloads of young students broke the solemnity of the place. Kids climbed on the monument and, ignoring the significance of statues, posed for photos. One young man grinned while placing a Trump hat on the top of a dog statue next to FDR. Two young women got in front and back of statues of men standing in a bread line for what I assume they thought was a cute photograph.

Ignoring the disrespect, I studied the dimly lit quotations chiseled in stone, trying to find something that related to democracy today.

"In these days of difficulty, we Americans everywhere must and shall choose the path of social justice…The path of faith, the path of hope, and the path of love toward our fellow man," said Roosevelt in 1932.

Or, this one from 1940:

"We must scrupulously guard the civil rights and civil liberties of all our citizens, whatever their background. We must remember that any oppression, any injustice, any hatred, is a wedge designed to attack our civilization."

Finally, we finished our evening walk at the Martin Luther King Memorial where there, too, were inspiring quotations written in stone.

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that."

On a weeklong trip, there were inspirational quotations written in stone almost everywhere. We found them in the Capitol, at the Supreme Court, inside the Library of Congress and on the Lincoln Memorial.

I could not escape a fundamental conflict between the inspirational words of the past and the ugliness and cynicism of this presidential campaign.

Our experiment in democracy has survived more than a few ugly campaigns when the rhetoric did not match our country's ideals.

But trying to be inspired in the midst of young people's disrespect for their surroundings while reading daily about sex scandals, email controversies and questions about the very legitimacy of our election process was difficult and troubling.

As I boarded a taxi back to the hotel and looked at the magnificent Washington monuments, I longed for idealism and principled debates on issues of importance.

And I wondered if such idealism was still possible.

Tom Wharton is a retired staff writer and outdoors editor for The Salt Lake Tribune.