When America was Great

March 21, 2017

George Washington viewed swagger as a moral failing. He served reluctantly and humbly, and redefined statesmanship in quietly passing the baton of leadership to John Adams. Was that when we were great? Abraham Lincoln once called forth the better angels of our nature, while Teddy Roosevelt admonished the nation to speak softly, and to carry a big stick, the New World eventually rising up and coming forth to the rescue of the Old, as Winston Churchill so eloquently stated. Was that when we were great? We had a dream, once, and crossed that Southern bridge together to finally stand equal with all our brothers and sisters. Was that when we were great? We poured our resources and intellect into research and innovation once, and stood like giants aloft heavenly soil. Was that when we were great? We brought the world closer together, and fostered a web of community interconnected and unparalleled among the pages of history. Was that when we were great? We did these things, in the words of a statesman whose measure seems so far beyond our own today, not because they were easy, but because they were hard. Not only for ourselves, but for all mankind. God grant us the strength of purpose and fortitude of character once again to remember who we are as a nation, and to recapture our hard-won legacy before it slips its fragile bonds forever.