Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Presidential Proverbs Daily: September 26
Presidential Proverbs Daily: September 26: "When there is lack of honor in government, the morals of the whole people are poisoned." Herbert Hoover, 31st President, 1929-1933. Most ...
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Presidential Proverbs Daily: September 25
Presidential Proverbs Daily: September 25: "You don't win campaigns with a diet of dish water and milk toast." Richard Nixon, 37th President, 1969-1974- It seems the more things cha...
Saturday, June 2, 2012
July 31
If there is not the war, you don’t get the great general; if there is not a great occasion, you don’t get the great statesman; if Lincoln had lived in a time of peace, no one would have known his name.
Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President, 1901-1909
The Conditions of Success, An Address at the Cambridge Union, May 26, 1910
I have spoken only of the great successes; but what I have said applies just as much to the success that is within the reach of almost every one of us. I think that any man who has had what is regarded in the world as great success must realize the the element of chance has played a great part in it. Of course a man has to take advantage of his opportunities; but the opportunities have to come.
There are two kinds of success. One is the very rare kind that comes to the man who has the power to do what no one else has the power to do. That is genius.
The average man who is successful,_the average statesman, the average public servant, the average soldier, who wins what we call great success_is not a genius. He is a man who has merely the ordinary qualities that he shares with his fellows, but who has developed those ordinary qualities to a more than ordinary degree.
July 30
Let us remember that revolutions do not always establish freedom. Our own free constitutions were not the offspring of our Revolution. They existed before.
Millard Fillmore, 13th President, 1850-1853
State of the Union 1852
France had no sooner established a republican form of government than she manifested a desire to force its blessings on all the world.
In less than ten years her Government was changed from a republic to an empire, and finally, after shedding rivers of blood, foreign powers restored her exiled dynasty and exhausted Europe sought peace and repose in the unquestioned ascendency of monarchical principles. Let us learn wisdom from her example. Let us remember that revolutions do not always establish freedom. Our own free institutions were not the offspring of our Revolution. They existed before. They were planted in the free charters of self-government under which the English colonies grew up, and our Revolution only freed us from the dominion of a foreign power whose government was at variance with those institutions. But European nations have had no such training for self-government, and every effort to establish it by bloody revolutions has been, and must without that preparation continue to be, a failure. Liberty unregulated by law degenerates into anarchy, which soon becomes the most horrid of all despotisms.
July 29
We must strengthen the ability of free nations everywhere to develop their independence and raise their standard of living, and thereby frustrate those who prey on poverty and chaos. To do this, the rich must help the poor and we must do our part.
Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th President, 1963-1969
First State of the Union Address
delivered 8 January 1964
For our ultimate goal is a world without war, a world made safe for diversity, in which all men, goods, and ideas can freely move across every border and every boundary.
Third, we must make increased use of our food as an instrument of peace -- making it available by sale or trade or loan or donation-to hungry people in all nations which tell us of their needs and accept proper conditions of distribution.
Eighth, we must strengthen the ability of free nations everywhere to develop their independence and raise their standard of living, and thereby frustrate those who prey on poverty and chaos. To do this, the rich must help the poor -- and we must do our part. We must achieve a more rigorous administration of our development assistance, with larger roles for private investors, for other industrialized nations, and for international agencies and for the recipient nations themselves.
July 28
In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves…self discipline with all came first.
Harry S. Truman, 33rd President, 1945-1953
Corresponding Biblical Proverb:
"A patient man is better than a warrior,
and he who rules his temper, than he who takes a city."
Proverbs 16:32
July 27
Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of the government. The history of government is the history of resistance. The history of liberty is the history of the limitation of government, not the increase of it.
Woodrow Wilson, 28th President, 1913-1921
In 1912, former president Theodore Roosevelt sought the Republican nomination at the convention in Chicago. He was infuriated by what he took to be betrayal of his progressive program by his personally chosen successor, the incumbent William Howard Taft.
The delegates chose Taft and former New York congressman James "Sunny Jim" Sherman as his running mate. Roosevelt and his supporters bolted, then formed the Progressive Party, popularly known as the Bull Moose Party. TR's running mate was California governor Hiram Johnson.
The Democrats were elated by the Republican split, realizing that their opponents' 16-year rule was at an end. The only real suspense was generated around the question of which Democrat would be the next president.
After 46 ballots, the exhausted delegates finally selected Woodrow Wilson and Indiana governor Thomas R. Marshall as his running mate.http://www.u-s-history.com
July 26
Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
John F. Kennedy, 35th President, 1961-1963
Delivered at The White House, Washington D.C. on 13 March 1962
Together, the free nations of the Hemisphere pledged their resources and their energies to the Alliance for Progress. Together they pledged to accelerate economic and social development and to make the basic reforms that are necessary to ensure that all would participate in the fruits of this development. Together they pledged to modernize tax structures and land tenure - to wipe out illiteracy and ignorance - to promote health and provide decent housing - to solve the problems of commodity stabilization - to maintain sound fiscal and monetary policies - to secure the contributions of private enterprise to development - to speed the economic integration of Latin America. And together they established the basic institutional framework for this immense, decade-long development.
For too long my country, the wealthiest nation in a continent which is not wealthy, failed to carry out its full responsibilities to its sister Republics. We have now accepted that responsibility. In the same way those who possess wealth and power in poor nations must accept their own responsibilities. They must lead the fight for those basic reforms which alone can preserve the fabric of their societies. Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
July 25
Our constitution works. Our great republic is a government of laws, not of men.
Gerald R. Ford, 38th President, 1974-1977
Remarks By Gerald Ford On Taking the Oath Of Office As President
The oath that I have taken is the same oath that was taken by George Washington and by every President under the Constitution. But I assume the Presidency under extraordinary circumstances never before experienced by Americans. This is an hour of history that troubles our minds and hurts our hearts.
I have not sought this enormous responsibility, but I will not shirk it. Those who nominated and confirmed me as Vice President were my friends and are my friends. They were of both parties, elected by all the people and acting under the Constitution in their name. It is only fitting then that I should pledge to them and to you that I will be the President of all the people.
I believe that truth is the glue that holds government together, not only our Government but civilization itself. That bond, though strained, is unbroken at home and abroad.
Our Constitution works; our great Republic is a government of laws and not of men. Here the people rule. But there is a higher Power, by whatever name we honor Him, who ordains not only righteousness but love, not only justice but mercy.
Richard Nixon resigned the Presidency on August 9, 1974 and Gerald Ford ascended to the office after he had recently been appointed Vice-President after the resignation of previous vice-President, Spiro T. Agnew.
July 24
Preparation for war is a constant stimulus to suspicion and ill will.
James Monroe, 5th President, 1817-1825
On April 20, 1817, the Rush-Bagot Treaty was signed between the U.S. and Great Britain – one of the first acts of Monroe’s first presidential term. The treaty regulated naval armaments on the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain after the War of 1812, demilitarizing the border between the U.S. and Canada. It created the world’s longest east-west boundary (5,527 miles), which is also said to be the world’s largest demilitarized zone.
July 23
We have learned that terrorist attacks are not caused by the use of strength; they are invited by the perception of weakness. And the surest way to avoid attacks on our own people is to engage the enemy where he lives and plans…so that we do not meet him again on our own streets, in our own cities.
George W. Bush, 43rd President, 2001-2009
Text of George W Bush's Speech on Iraq
Sunday, September 7, 2003
Address of the President to the Nation
The Cabinet Room
Address to update the public on the war on terrorism
Two years ago, I told the Congress and the country that the war on terror would be a lengthy war, a different kind of war, fought on many fronts in many places. Iraq is now the central front. Enemies of freedom are making a desperate stand there -- and there they must be defeated. This will take time and require sacrifice. Yet we will do what is necessary, we will spend what is necessary, to achieve this essential victory in the war on terror, to promote freedom and to make our own nation more secure.
The people of Iraq are emerging from a long trial. For them, there will be no going back to the days of the dictator, to the miseries and humiliation he inflicted on that good country. For the Middle East and the world, there will be no going back to the days of fear, when a brutal and aggressive tyrant possessed terrible weapons. And for America, there will be no going back to the era before September the 11th, 2001 -- to false comfort in a dangerous world. We have learned that terrorist attacks are not caused by the use of strength; they are invited by the perception of weakness. And the surest way to avoid attacks on our own people is to engage the enemy where he lives and plans. We are fighting that enemy in Iraq and Afghanistan today so that we do not meet him again on our own streets, in our own cities
July 22
Communist leaders believe in Lenin’s precept: Probe with bayonets. If you encounter mush, proceed; if you encounter steel, withdraw.
Richard M. Nixon, 37th President, 1969-1974
Well, let me go back historically to how this all relates to Vietnam.
President Kennedy met Khrushchev at Vienna. And Scotty Reston of The New York Times reported that sk--Khrushchev bullied him, Khrushchev following the usual Leninist dictum, which says, "Probe with bayonets. If you find mush, proceed. If you find steel, withdraw." Now, President Kennedy was not a weak man. He was not a soft man. He was a tough guy, and after all these things happening, he was determined that Khrushchev, and the Communists generally, should not assume that they had found mush. Now that, of course--if--you have to understand that to understand why he felt it was important to increase the number of Americans in Vietnam. That was why he thought it was important to as--have these Americans participate in military exercise, even though it cost some casualties.
Day 2, Tape 1
00:31:34
[Frank Gannon]
THE NIXON/GANNON INTERVIEWS
July 21
No man can sit down and withhold his hands from the warfare against wrong and get peace from his acquiescence.
Woodrow Wilson, 28th President, 1913-1921
ADDRESS
OF
HON. WOODROW WILSON
GOVERNOR OF NEW JERSEY
IN THE
AUDITORIUM, DENVER, COLO.
ON THE OCCASION OF THE TERCENTENARY
CELEBRATION OF THE TRANSLATION OF
THE BIBLE INTO THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
MAY 7, 1911
And so when you see a man going along the highways of life with his gaze lifted above the road, lifted to the sloping ways in front of him, then be careful of that man and get out of his way. He knows the kingdom for which he is bound. He has seen the revelation of himself and of his relations to mankind. He has seen the revelations of his relation to God and his Maker, and therefore he has seen his responsibility in the world. This is the revelation of life and of peace. I do not know that peace lies in constant accommodation...
No man can sit down and withhold his hands from the warfare against wrong and get peace out of his acquiescence. The most solid and satisfying peace is that which comes from this constant spiritual warfare, and there are times in the history of nations when they must take up the crude instruments of bloodshed in order to vindicate spiritual conceptions. For liberty is a spiritual conception, and when men take up arms to set other men free, there is something sacred and holy in the warfare. I will not cry “peace” so long as there is sin and wrong in the world.
July 20
It is by no means necessary that a great nation should always stand at the heroic level. But no nation has the root of greatness in it unless in time of need it can rise to the heroic mood.
Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President, 1901-1909
From FEAR GOD and Take Your Own Part, a compilation of articles by Theodore Roosevelt, Chapter 12, p 349,George H. Duran Company, New York, 1916
Our democracy must prove itself effective in making the people healthy, strong and industrially productive, in securing justice, in
inspiring intense patriotism and in making every man and woman within our borders realize that if they are not willing at time of need to serve the nation against all comers in war, they are not fit to be citizens of the nation in time of peace. The democratic ideal must be that of subordinating chaos to order, of subordinating the individual to the community, of subordinating individual selfishness to collective self-sacrifice for a lofty ideal, of training every man to realize that no one is entitled to citizenship in a great free common-wealth unless he does his full duty to his neighbor, his full duty in his family life, and his full duty to the nation; and unless he is prepared to do this duty not only in time of peace but also in time of war. It is by no means necessary that a great nation should always stand at the heroic level. But no nation has the root of greatness in it unless in time of need it can rise to the heroic mood.
July 19
It is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties. We hold this prudent jealousy to be the first duty of citizens, and one of the noblest characteristics of the late Revolution.
James Madison, 4th President, 1809-1817
Amendment I (Religion)
Document 43
James Madison, Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments
20 June 1785Papers 8:298--304
To the Honorable the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia A Memorial and Remonstrance
We the subscribers, citizens of the said Commonwealth, having taken into serious consideration, a Bill printed by order of the last Session of General Assembly, entitled "A Bill establishing a provision for Teachers of the Christian Religion," and conceiving that the same if finally armed with the sanctions of a law, will be a dangerous abuse of power, are bound as faithful members of a free State to remonstrate against it, and to declare the reasons by which we are determined. We remonstrate against the said Bill,
. Because it is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties. We hold this prudent jealousy to be the first duty of Citizens, and one of the noblest characteristics of the late Revolution. The free men of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise, and entangled the question in precedents. They saw all the consequences in the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying the principle. We revere this lesson too much soon to forget it. Who does not see that the same authority which can establish Christianity, in exclusion of all other Religions, may establish with the same ease any particular sect of Christians, in exclusion of all other Sects? that the same authority which can force a citizen to contribute three pence only of his property for the support of any one establishment, may force him to conform to any other establishment in all cases whatsoever?
July 8
You should have disagreements with your leaders and colleagues, but if it becomes immediately a question of questioning people’s motives, and if immediately you decide that somebody who sees a whole new situation differently than you must be a bad person and somehow twisted inside, we are not going to get very far in forming a more perfect union.
Bill Clinton, 42nd President, 1993-2001
The Price of Success
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or evil, we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty.
John F. Kennedy, 35th President, 1961-1963, from Kennedy's Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961, at the Capital Building, Washington, D.C. , http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=8032 - One of the main purposes in putting this work together was to try to see how our Presidents thought- what made them tick, as it were, and to see if we could learn to emulate those thoughts and translate them into our own personal success. This quote and the idea that "we shall pay any price" reveals (on many levels) Kennedy's determination to maintain freedom and liberty on the international front, his political ambitions and personal will to win, but most certainly would serve to answer the question, "What does it take to succeed?" ~~ On close to the coldest Inauguration Day in history (temperature at noon was 22 degrees), the youngest elected President in U.S. History gave notice to the "old guard" in general and the Soviet Union in particular, that Kennedy and his "new generation" intended for the United States to maintain its position in the world as a bastion of freedom and leader in the international community. He had won the Presidential election by the slimmest of margins and, some would say, by questionable and possibly illegal voting and ballot counting practices. One might cynically say his choice of Vice-President, Lyndon B. Johnson, was certainly not due to a close working relationship, but appeared to be a surprise and politically calculated choice designed to sway the Southern electoral block in order to garner the votes needed to win the election. Despite the closeness and controversy of the election, Richard Nixon, the defeated candidate, declined to demand an investigation or a recount. Both men would stay on the political stage through the socially turbulent decades of the 1960's and 1970's, each embroiled in the Vietnam War, with Johnson displaying the strategic political experience and knowledge to translate many of Kennedy's visions into legislative reality after his death and Nixon being elected to two terms as President, before his historic resignation in 1974.~~
In Kennedy's abbreviated Presidency, he oversaw the development of The Peace Corps, he engaged the United States in "The Space Race" with the goal of being the first nation to send a man to the moon and back by the end of the decade, he promoted a ban on atmospheric nuclear arms testing, confronted Russia and Cuba in the "Cuban Missile Crisis", opposed the Berlin Wall in Russian controlled East Germany, and promoted equal rights at home, all lofty and righteous goals designed to inspire us to make the country and the world a better place. In reality, the price was, and is, indeed high and the burden heavy, with loss of life and resources spent. Would we have paid a larger, heavier and "worse" price for not acting at all? Conversely, one might cynically say these programs were merely public relations measures designed to promote the image of the United States over the Soviet Union in a worldwide competition for support of the United States' political and economic ideologies. Perhaps "the truth" might lie somewhere in between.~~
In any case; Presidential politics aside, in order for you to succeed, would you "pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of...your goal?"
July 4, 1872- Birthdate of John Calvin Coolidge, Jr.
Men speak of natural rights, but I challenge anyone to show where in nature any rights existed or were recognized until there was established for their declaration and protection a duly promulgated body of corresponding laws.
30th President, 1923-1929, Died January 5, 1933
Friday, June 1, 2012
June 27
A man who has never lost himself in a cause bigger than himself has missed one of life’s mountaintop experiences. Only in losing himself does he find himself. Only then does he discover all the latent strengths he never knew he had and which would otherwise have remained dormant.
Richard M. Nixon, 37th President, 1969-1974
June 23
Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.
Andrew Jackson, 7th President, 1829-1837-Quoted as "a maxim of Gen. Jackson's" in Supplement to the Courant Vol. XXII No. 25, Hartford, Saturday, December 12, 1857, p. 200 books.google, from Wikiquotes.org. This appears to be a quote attributed to Jackson but not much substantial evidence has been found that he actually said it or wrote it. The quote has also been attributed to Napolean Bonaparte (1769-1821), the famous French general and Emperor who also rose to power in Jackson's era. Both men were great military leaders and fearless generals. Napolean rose to power after the French Revolution where the French monarchy was overthrown in 1789, the first year of George Washington's Presidency.
Jackson was only a young teenager during the American Revolution and rose to prominence as controversial Indian fighter and as a general in the War of 1812 against the British.
As a point of interest, the source of this quote, The Hartford Courant, is the United State's oldest newspaper in continous print. "It's the newspaper in which George Washington placed an ad to lease part of his Mount Vernon land.
It's where Noah Webster's "Blue-Backed Speller" was first published.
Thomas Jefferson sued this newspaper for libel - and lost.
And Mark Twain tried to buy stock in this paper but his offer was turned down.
The Courant is, in fact, older than the nation. It was started as a weekly paper in 1764 by a printer named Thomas Green. He sold the newspaper to his assistant, Ebenezer Watson, who ran the business successfully until he died of smallpox in 1777. Then Watson's widow, Hannah, took over the paper and became one of the first women publishers in America.
During the Revolutionary War, The Courant had the largest circulation of any newspaper in the colonies and was an influential backer of the rebel cause. The Courant's existence was considered so important to the war effort that when its paper mill was burned down - probably by Tories - the Connecticut legislature authorized a lottery to raise money to build a new mill. In the meantime, The Courant printed a few issues on wrapping paper.
In the mid-1800's, when the country was dividing over the issue of slavery, The Courant was inspired by a visit Abraham Lincoln made to Hartford. The paper became a leading supporter of the new Republican Party and Lincoln's presidential campaign. When Lincoln won the 1860 election, The Courant's headline pronounced: "VICTORY, VICTORY, WE'VE GOT'EM." http://www.courant.com/about/thc-history,0,4107859.htmlstory
June 20
"Our problems are man made, therefore they may be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings."-
John F. Kennedy, 35th President, 1961-1963- from his Commencement Address at The American University, Washington D.C., Monday June 10, 1963.- A brief Prologue: In an effort to bring an end to World War II, on August 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, killing 90,000 people with another 75,000 perishing as a result of radiation poisoning and other factors. On August 9, 1945, another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, killing 39,000 with an additional 40,000 deaths over time. On August 15, 1945, Japan announced its surrender, thus ending the war. With the end of the war, however, began the debate over the use of atomic weapons and their effect on the world and the fate and very survival of mankind. Testing and development continued in the Nevada desert not far from Las Vegas (extolled as safe and proudly viewed by thousands-(view photos and history at www.nationalatomictestingmuseum.org/)) and in the Soviet Union. With ongoing testing, the threat of nuclear destruction and fallout loomed over all the world. We now fast forward almost 20 years to focus on the frantic pace of now United States President, John F. Kennedy. Despite his physical frailties and back problems, Kennedy had served in the South Pacific in WW II as patrol boat (PT-109) commander. He had seen the devastations of war firsthand. He had also studied the causes and results of Word War I which had been fought from 1914-1918. Hence, one of his main foreign policy goals was to prevent another devastating war and the inevitable aftermath. After averting a possible nuclear catastrophe with Russia and Cuba in October, 1962, Kennedy desired to limit the threat of nuclear annihilation and sensed that Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, also wanted to limit the threat and cost of further escalation. Despite initial military and congressional opposition to idea of ending nuclear testing, Kennedy decided to renew efforts to pursue the ongoing goal of a securing a test ban agreement and used his June 10th speech at the American University as the stage for his policy proposal. The speech is largely regarded as one of his best, recognizing the common humanity of the American and Soviet people and influencing Khrushchev to forge an agreement. But first...his itinerary for the days leading up to his speech: He already had a five day trip scheduled to the western United States. On Wednesday, June 5th, Kennedy and his entourage flew to Colorado where he gave the commencement speech at the Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs. As one of many military stops, he then visited the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. On Thursday, June 6, he continued west to California and spoke at commencement ceremonies at San Diego State University, where he emphasized the responsibility of educating the next generation of Americans. Afterwards, he spoke at the Marine Corps Recruiting Depot training site, after which he toured the recently commissioned aircraft carrier, Kitty Hawk (larger, supercarrier classed vessel), addressed the crew and spent the night onboard. On Friday, June 7, he travelled north to visit the China Lake Naval Air Facility and then attended a fundraising dinner in Los Angeles. Continuing the whirlwind pace, on Saturday morning, June 8, he attended and spoke at a breakfast given by the Democratic State Committeewomen of California, again in Los Angeles and subsequently flew on to Hawaii. The next morning, June 9, Kennedy attended chapel services in Honolulu, visited the U. S. Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, and that afternoon spoke to an assembly of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He immediately flew back across six time zones to Washington, D.C., finalizing his speech and arriving at 8:50 AM Monday, June 10. After a brief rest, Kennedy then travelled to the American University where he gave his historic address. In his conclusion, he states, "...we shall also do our part to build a world of peace where the weak are safe and the strong are just. We are not helpless before that task or hopeless of its success. Confident and unafraid, we labor on--not toward a strategy of annihilation but toward a strategy of peace." (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/primary-resources/jfk-university/) With continuing negotiations, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union signed the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty on August 5, 1963. The treaty banned atmospheric testing and was ratified by Congress on September 24 and signed by Kennedy, himself, on Monday, October 7, 1963.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
June 17
Business life, whether among ourselves or with other people, is ever a sharp struggle for success. It will be none the less so in the future. Without competition we would be clinging to the clumsy antiquated processes…of long ago and the twentieth century would be no further advanced then the eighteenth century.
William McKinley, 25th President, 1897-1901
June 12, 1924- Birthdate of George Herbert Walker Bush
If you don’t feel strongly about something, you’re not going to achieve.
41st President, 1989-1993-from Academy of Achievement interview, June 2, 1995. This unique non-profit foundation has sparked the imagination of students across America and around the globe by bringing them into direct personal contact with the preeminent leaders of our times. The Academy was founded by Brian Blaine Reynolds, an acclaimed photographer best known for his contributions to Life magazine and Sports Illustrated. Reynolds established the Academy of Achievement to bring aspiring young people together with real-life heroes -- the kind of achievers he met every week on assignment.(www.achievement.org)While not known as a great speaker, Mr. Bush had many accomplishments and achievements and displayed much wisdom. As part of this interview, Bush was asked How important passion is for achievement? His reply: "Passion is terribly important. You've got to feel something strongly. If you don't feel something strongly you're not going to achieve. You're not going to go the extra mile. Passion is important in relationships. It's important in a man/woman relationship. Letting the other person know that you really love her and that you care. And so, it's a powerful word, but without passion, without really believing something, it's hard to achieve." Other factors he spoke out about were preparation and courage: "Know what you're talking about. Get out there and do enough homework, have enough background, understand enough history so that you're prepared for what you face today, and prepared to achieve your objectives." and On courage: "Courage is a terribly important value. It means you don't run away when things are tough. It means you don't turn away from a friend when he or she is in trouble. It means standing up against the majority opinion. In a fundamental sense it means: are you willing to give your life so somebody else can save his or hers? Courage is terribly important. There's a lot of people who won't wear it on their sleeve, or display it through some heroic act. But courage is having the strength to do what's honorable and decent."
June 6, 1944- D-Day address
You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade…The eyes of the world are upon you. Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped, and battle hardened. He will fight savagely. I have full confidence in your courage, devotion, and skill. Let us beseech the blessings of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President, 1953-1961
June 1
Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President, 1801-1809-attributed to Jefferson, but not found in any of his papers. It's a great thought, but not really worded in the style of writing or speaking of the 1700's. There is scant writing about mental "attitudes" or goals from any of the founding fathers. According to the site which maintains his papers, Jefferson's Monticello, scholars state "...(this quote)is frequently attributed to W. W. Ziege, and while Ziege did write an article that appeared in Rosicrucian Digest in December 1945, "The Magic Word," in which he essentially makes the same point, he did not use these exact words. No other writings of his in which this quotation may have appeared have yet been located. (www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/nothing-can-stop-man-right-mental-attitude-quotation).
What then, would be the connection to Jefferson? He was not a follower or member of The Rosicrucians, nor The Masons, another popular society of his time, both of which endure today. Both groups sought out and espoused "truths" passed down through time. Jefferson was raised in the Angelican faith but did not follow "traditional" religious practices. Although he did believe in the moral teachings of Jesus, it does not appear Jefferson believed in the divinity of Jesus. It time, he became an associate of Richard Price, a minister in the Unitarian church. (www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/jeffersons-religious-beliefs") The Unitarians basically believe in God, but not in the concept of "The Holy Trinity", three persons in one God. In short, Jefferson was an independent, eclectic thinker; a product of his times, The Age of Enlightenment.
Some of Jefferson's philosophies may have been incorporated into Rosicrucian beliefs and teachings, but Jefferson was not a member of their group. More information can be found about the controversies surrounding Rosicrucians, Masons, and Unitarians through many sources.
Friday, April 27, 2012
May 29, 1917- Birthdate of John Fitzgerald Kennedy-
"The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word, ‘crisis’. One brush stroke stands for danger, the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger- but recognize the opportunity."-
35th President, 1961-1963, Died by assassination November 22, 1963- from his remarks at the Convocation of the United Negro College Fund, Indianapolis, Indiana, Sunday, April 12, 1959. As he speaks, Senator Kennedy has not yet announced his candidacy for President, although the Oval Office would be his ultimate goal. How he came to speak at this forum is multi-layered story in and of itself. Also, his interpretation of the translation of the word, crisis, itself, has been raised for discussion. In 1957, Kennedy was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his book, "Profiles in Courage". While Kennedy is credited for the idea and concept of the book, there is controversy about how much of the writing was actually done by him. It was also believed Kennedy's father lobbied the Columbia University judges to award him the honor.
In any event, Kennedy did donate his prize money to the United Negro College Fund. It would seem this would be the likely reason he was invited to speak to the organization, now renowned for its iconic slogan, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." Kennedy uses the word crisis in his opening paragraph; not only in context of racial discrimination but in the context of "world of crisis." He states, "The graduates of all American colleges today will play a pre-eminent role in shaping the course of that world. They cannot escape the responsibilities of leadership...and I want to make sure that these future leaders - facing the most critical, complex world and most urgent peril history has ever known - are prepared to deal with these problems." Here he lists the pressing issues of the time: The economic, social, and military threat of Russian communism and the looming "space race." In addition, China was undergoing a transformation into a communist, industrialized power. Along with those large nations, he mentions growing strife on the continents of Africa and South America. Kennedy states, "...the danger lies in the possibility that we will become increasingly estranged from our allies and friends and the uncommitted people of the world...our armaments must be ideas and the battle must be for men's minds."
At this point he puts forth his iconic quote (although most likely repeated from past associates and writings) stating that "with crisis comes opportunity." As an aside, current scholars contend the more accurate translation would imply that a crisis is, not an opportunity but, in fact, a danger point of which one should be wary and demands a decision, creating a turning point. (http://workplacepsychology.net/2014/08/10/in-chinese-crisis-does-not-mean-danger-and-opportunity/)
Kennedy then moves from his general position of seeing education as crucial to the overall advancement of American leadership and ideals to the world, to the specific position that the improvement of and advancement of Negro education in America is also crucial. In doing so, he seems to align himself with the idea that there would be in fact a struggle, not a mere opportunity. "So let us raise both our sights and our standards. One era in the history of our Negro colleges is coming to an end. But another is just beginning. It will require more, not less, effort - greater, not smaller, expenditures - increased, not decreased, recognition from the American people...The demand for teachers, doctors, lawyers and businessmen will continue to grow. But there will be new and unprecedent[ed] demands upon your colleges for community leaders skilled in the arts of persuasion and conciliation...capable of handling the explosive problems of a transitional age.
In our nation's quest for new talent, new ideas, new brainpower, new manpower, no college can escape its responsibility - and no qualified young man or woman can be denied. Irrational barriers and ancient prejudices fall quickly when the question of survival itself is at stake." In concluding, he moves back from the specific issue of the United Negro College Fund to the general challenge of the nation. "This, after all, is the real issue of our times. The hard, tough question for the next decade - for this or any other group of Americans - is whether any free society - with its freedom of choice - its breadth of opportunity - its range of alternatives - can meet the single minded advance of the Communist system. Can a nation organized and governed such as ours endure? That is the real question. Have we the nerve and the will?" (http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/JFK-Speeches/Indianapolis-IN_19590412.aspx)
Not knowing how great the struggles would be in the not so distant future, Kennedy puts forth the idea that if individuals are prepared for leadership, they will be accepted by society in the interests of that society. In many instances, Kennedy's vision and desire has come to fruition as we now have leaders from all races in our government, military, and in the educational system. However, in retrospect, Kennedy's use of the word, crisis, is more prophetic than he could have known, as we in the United States still contend with explosive problems and struggle with the crisis of racial equality and justice to this day.
May 28
May 28
The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten.
Calvin Coolidge, 30th President, 1923-1929
Quote from Coolidge's speech on July 27, 1920, accepting the Vice-Presidential nomination to serve with Warren Harding.
At that time the United States was recovering from its participation in World War I and a primary concern was caring for the veterans of that war.
"Whenever in the future this nation undertakes to assess its strength and resources, the largest item
will be the roll of those who served her in every patriotic capacity in the world war. There are those
who bore the civil tasks of that great undertaking, often at heavy sacrifices, always with the
disinterested desire to serve their country. There are those who wore the uniform. The presence of
the living, the example of the dead, will ever be a standing guaranty of the stability of our republic.
From their rugged virtue springs a never-ending obligation to hold unimpaired the principles
established by their victory. Honor is theirs forevermore.
Duty compels that those promises, so freely made, that out of their sacrifices they should have a
larger life, be speedily redeemed. Care of dependents, relief from distress, restoration from infirmity,
provision for education, honorable preferment in the public service, a helping hand everywhere, are
theirs not as a favor but by right. They have conquered the claim to suitable recognition in all things.
The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten."
Another concern was reverting back to a peacetime economy and returning "the voice" and responsibility back to the people with less arbitrary governing as was perceived to be necessary during a war.
"Unless the government and property of the nation are in the hands of the people, and there to stay as
their permanent abiding place, self-government ends and the hope of America goes down in ruins."
With fundamental rights come responsibility-
"...it is the first duty of the public and press to expose false doctrines and answer seditious arguments.
American institutions can stand discussion and criticism, only if those who know bear for them the
testimony of the truth."
May 27
Justice is the end of Government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been, and ever will be pursued, until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit.
James Madison, 4th President, 1809-1817- from The Federalist Papers, #51, February 8,1788. OK, kids, put on your thinking caps. This Madison guy is a deep thinker. The Federalist Papers were written to attempt to persuade the new citizens of the United States to agree to the newly written Constitution which would provide for a stronger central government in place of the weak central government provided for in the Articles of Confederation. The Revolutionary War had been fought in opposition to too much authority in the government. There was (and is) a fine line between individual and states rights and the common good of the nation. "...But the great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department, consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others. The provision for defense must in this, as in all other cases, be made commensurate to the danger of attack. Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place...In the compound republic of America, the power surrendered by the people is first divided between two distinct governments, and then the portion allotted to each subdivided among distinct and separate departments. Hence a double security arises to the rights of the people. The different governments will control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself. Second. It is of great importance in a republic not only to guard the society against the oppression of its rulers, but to guard one part of the society against the injustice of the other part. Different interests necessarily exist in different classes of citizens... Whilst all authority in it will be derived from and dependent on the society, the society itself will be broken into so many parts, interests, and classes of citizens, that the rights of individuals, or of the minority, will be in little danger from interested combinations of the majority...Justice is the end of government. It is the end of civil society. It ever has been and ever will be pursued until it be obtained, or until liberty be lost in the pursuit. In a society under the forms of which the stronger faction can readily unite and oppress the weaker, anarchy may as truly be said to reign as in a state of nature, where the weaker individual is not secured against the violence of the stronger...In the extended republic of the United States, a coalition of a majority of the whole society could seldom take place on any other principles than those of justice and the general good; whilst there being thus less danger to a minor from the will of a major party, there must be less pretext, also, to provide for the security of the former, by introducing into the government a will independent of the society itself.http://thomas.loc.gov/home/histdox/fed_51.html
May 26
True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.
George Washington, 1st President, 1789-1797, from a letter written to his nephew, Bushrod Washington, January 15, 1783. Apparently, Bushrod was on his way to Philadelphia to study law and his father was concerned about Bushrod's youth and protecting his limited financial resources, as well as developing good friendships and maintaining his focus and reputation. George had been asked to write to Bushrod to give a guiding hand. (Who would be better to give advice than "The Father of our Country"?)..."Dear Bushrod: You will be surprised perhaps at receiving a letter from me; but if the end is answered for which it is written, I shall not think my time miss-spent.
Your Father, who seems to entertain a very favorable opinion of your prudence, and I hope you merit it: in one or two of his letters to me, speaks of the difficulty he is under to make you remittances...when I take a view of the inexperience of Youth, the temptations in, and vices of Cities...as a friend, I give you the following advice.
Let the object, which carried you to Philadelphia, be always before your Eyes; remember, that it is not the mere study of the Law, but to become eminent in the Profession of it (and)let the second be your ambition. and that dissipation is incompatible with both.
That the Company in which you will improve most, will be least expensive to you...of the young and juvenile kind let me advise you to be choice. It is easy to make acquaintances, but very difficult to shake them off, however irksome and unprofitable they are found after we have once committed ourselves to them; the indiscretions, and scrapes which very often they involuntarily lead one into, proves equally distressing and disgraceful.
Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence; true friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.
Do not conceive that fine Clothes make fine Men, any more than fine feathers make fine Birds.
The last thing I shall mention, is first of importance. and that is, to avoid Gaming...It has been the ruin of many worthy familys; the loss of many a man's honor.
...It will add not a little to my happiness, to find those, to whom I am so nearly connected, pursuing the right walk of life; it will be the sure road to my favor, and to those honors, and places of profit, which their Country can bestow, as merit rarely goes unrewarded.
May 23
The friend in my adversity I shall always cherish most. I can better trust those who helped to relieve the gloom of my dark hours than those who are so ready to enjoy with me the sunshine of my prosperity.
Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President, 1869-1877
The corollary statement might be from General Sherman: "Grant stood by me when I was crazy, and I stood by him when he was drunk, and now we stand by each other."
May 21
The general is sorry to be informed that the foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing…is growing into fashion. Let the men and officers reflect that we cannot hope for the blessings of heaven on our army if we insult it by our impiety and folly.
George Washington, 1st President, 1789-1797
May 14-
And so, my fellow Americans: Ask not what your country can do for you- ask what you can do for your country…My fellow citizens of the world: Ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.
John F. Kennedy, 35th President 1961-1963, From his Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961, Washington, D.C. "Nothing is as powerful as an idea whose time has come." (attributed to Victor Hugo) Not all great thoughts have to be original to be valid. Timing is also of great importance. It is believed that Kennedy's great quote is a reflection back to his high school days at Choate, (now called Choate Rosemary Hall) a private boarding school in Connecticut. Kennedy was quite a rapscallion and rebellious ring leader in his time at school. He was often at odds with the administration and its headmaster, George St. John. However, it does appear that some of the headmaster's words did sink in. As part of the curriculum, the students would gather for evening chapel services at which the headmaster would give inspirational and motivational talks. A recurring theme of Mr. St. John's sermons was inspired by his own mentor, LeBaron Russell Riggs, dean of Harvard University. In an essay, Briggs writes, "In and out of college the man with ideals helps, so far as in him lies, his college and his country. It is hard for a boy to understand that in life, he helps make or mar the name of his college. As has often been said, the youth who loves his alma mater will always ask not 'What can she do for me?' but 'What can I do for her?'" (Matthews, Chris; "Jack Kennedy:Elusive Hero, Simon & Schuster, New York, New York, 2011, p. 23). Now as a grown man and newly elected leader of the free world, Kennedy rephrases the thought and it becomes a flashpoint and iconic idea and phrase as the world moved into the struggle against Russian communism in the "Cold War" and the "New Frontier" of the 1960's. He calls on all Americans to renew themselves and continue to work for and uphold the American ideals of freedom and human rights: "We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom--symbolizing an end as well as a beginning--signifying renewal as well as change...Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans...In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility--I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it--and the glow from that fire can truly light the world."
May 13
Much can be done by law toward putting women on a footing of complete and entire equal rights with man…women should have free access to every field of labor which they care to enter, and when their work is as valuable as that of a man, it should be paid as highly.
Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President, 1901-1909
May 9
The best judge of whether or not a country is going to develop is how it treats its women. If it is educating its girls, if women have equal rights, that country is going to move forward. But if women are oppressed and abused and illiterate, then they are going to fall behind.
Barack Obama, 44th President, 2009-
May 2
We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
Abraham Lincoln, 16th President, 1861-1865
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
April 28, 1758- Birthdate of James Monroe
In this great nation there is but one order, that of the people, whose power…is transferred from them…to bodies of their own creation, and to persons elected by themselves, in the full extent necessary for the purposes of free, enlightened, and efficient government.
5th President, 1817-1825, Died July 4, 1831
April 26
If all that Americans want is security, they can go to prison.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President, 1953-1961- From a speech to the Galveston Lunch groups December 8, 1949, as President of Columbia University.- Eisenhower speaks here to civic leaders as a post World War II hero and potential candidate for President of the United States. He was honored in Galveston as a great American and a great Texan. Eisenhower was born in Texas, but grew up in Abilene, Kansas, where his Presidential Library is located. Although, he was leader of the multinational war effort, in which mass production of weapons and equipment propelled the United States to great influence and prosperity, Eisenhower often warned of too much governmental authority and control..."If all that Americans want out of life is security, the easiest means to gain this end, is to commit some offense and go to prison. You will never have to worry, you will get enough to eat, you will have a pretty fair bed, and you will get along alright. But fundamentally if an American desires to preserve his freedom, his dignity and equality as a human being, he must not bow his neck to any centralized government."
Eisenhower is not speaking about "bowing" to foreign governments, but to our own. He further states, "Vote in every election from school board or precinct chairman upward. In doing your duty as we understand it, with the determination to preserve your freedoms, the American people will never lose it".
After the luncheon, he greeted the District champion Galveston Ball High School football team and then visited the new American Legion Hall and greeted the veterans there and subsequently went quail hunting at the end of his trip.
April 25
Never fear the want of business. A man who qualifies himself well for his calling, never fails of employment.
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President, 1801-1809-from a Letter to nephew, Peter Carr, June 22, 1792.This quote is not a general platitude to Peter Carr, but rather appears to be professional correspondence and encouragement from one lawyer to another. Carr had written to Jefferson asking for his interpretation of English "Waste Laws" regarding land use and "development" in the former colonies. In England, cutting down forests deteriorated the land (hence they were more than happy to get lumber from "the colonies"). Jefferson stated that depending on the reasoning, in some cases cutting down forest in Virginia could be an improvement of the land as farm and pasture land were developed. He states improvements "in the same line" may be permitted but improvements "in a different line"(ie, new buildings)might tend to deterioration. "The English Chancellors have gone on from one thing to another without any comprehensive or systematic view of the whole field of equity...". He ends his letter with the quote, "Never fear the want of business. A man who qualifies himself well for his calling never fails of employment in it. The foundation you will have laid in legal reading will enable you to take a higher ground than most of your competitors...Go on then with courage, and you will be sure of success";; for which be assured no one wishes more ardently, nor has more sincere sentiments of friendship towards you Dear Sir, than your affectionate friend. Th Jefferson.
April 19
We didn’t become the most prosperous country in the world just by rewarding greed and recklessness…by letting the special interests run wild or by gambling and chasing paper profits on Wall Street. We built this country by making things, producing things we could sell.
Barack Obama, 44th President, 2009-
April 18
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned…It has not been a path for the faint hearted or those who prefer leisure over work…it has been the risk takers, the doers, the makers of things-often obscure in their labor-who have carried us up the long rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.
Barack Obama, 44th President, 2009-
April 17
The indiscriminate denunciation of the rich is mischievous…No poor man was ever made richer or happier by it…Not what a man has, but what he is, settles his class. We can not right matters by taking from one what he has honestly acquired to bestow upon another what he has not earned.
Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President, 1889-1893
April 14
I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my county. Corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption in high places will follow and the Money Power of the Country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working on the prejudices of the people until the wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.
Abraham Lincoln, 16th President, 1861-1865
April 10
The collection of taxes which do not beyond a reasonable doubt contribute to the public welfare is only a species of legalized larceny. The wise and correct course to follow in taxation is not to destroy those who have already secured success, but to create conditions under which everyone will have a chance to be successful.
Calvin Coolidge, 30th President, 1921-1929
April 7
I do not prize the word, “cheap”. It is not a badge of honor. It is a symbol of despair. Cheap prices make for cheap goods; cheap goods make for cheap men; and cheap men make for a cheap country.
William McKinley, 25th President, 1897-1901- From his speech, "Protection and Revenue", at Music Hall, Cleveland, Ohio, October 5, 1889.-McKinley, a member of congress at the time, was campaigning for the Republican party and its policies of tariffs and taxation a month before the Presidential election of Benjamin Harrison. He states, "There has always been in the United States a political party that favored a strict construction of the Constitution, that stood in opposition to internal improvements and to a protective tariff, that believed in class and caste and obstruction; and there has always been, on the other hand, a party that stood for the largest liberty, for the full development of the country,...and for the maintenance of a protective tariff and the widest opportunities for American aspiration...If Madison and Hamilton, Clay and Webster stood for a system of taxation that would bear most lightly upon the people, and least retard our industrial development, so the Republican party stands today for precisely the same system...To give intelligent judgment upon this question it is necessary that we should rightly understand what constitutes a revenue tariff, and exactly what is meant by a protective tariff. Now, a revenue tariff, as the very term implies, is a tariff for revenue only, a tariff which has no purpose, except putting money into the Treasury for public purposes. A protective tariff, while raising revenue, it has consideration for the occupations of our own people. It has concern for our agricultural and mechanical development...Every time you bring a competing product into the United States it takes the place of a like quantity of the American product...(and) while you are securing an overflowing Treasury you are bankrupting our own industries, destroying our own investment, and depriving American working men of the labor which belongs to them. - They (proponents of revenue tariff) say "everything would be so cheap" if only we had free trade. Well, everything would be cheap and everybody would be cheap. I do not prize the word cheap. It is not a word of hope; it is not a word of comfort; it is not a word of cheer; it is not a word of inspiration! It is the badge of poverty; it is the signal of distress...when things were the cheapest, men were the poorest...Why cheap merchandise means cheap men, and cheap men mean a cheap country; and that is not the kind of country our fathers founded, and it is not the kind their sons mean to maintain. We want labor to be well paid; we want everything we make and produce to pay a fair compensation to the producer. That is what makes good times.-From "Speeches and Addresses of William McKinley", Copyright D. Appleton and Company, New York, 1893, pages 368-380.
April 6
If the power to do hard work is not a skill, it’s the best possible substitute for it.
James A. Garfield, 20th President, 1881- From "College Education", An Address delivered before the Literary Societies of the Eclectic Institute at Hiram Ohio, June 14, 1867- Garfield, a former educator, was at this time a member of the House of Representatives from Ohio after serving as a General in the Civil War. The nation was re-organizing and Garfield had been asked to speak about education in the changing nation. Garfield states, "The nation, having passed through the childhood of it its history, and being about to enter upon a new life, based on a fuller recognition of the rights of manhood, has discovered that liberty can be safe, only when the suffrage is illuminated by education...You, young gentlemen, are now confronted with the question, "What must I do to fit myself most completely,...for being 'all that doth become a man,' living in the full light of the Christian civilization of America?"...In general, it may be said that the purpose of all study is two-fold: to discipline our faculties, and to acquire knowledge for the duties of life...In brief, the student should study himself, his relations to society, to nature, and to art-and through all these, should study the relations of himself, society, and nature and art, to God, the Author of them all. In the next place, I inquire, what kinds of knowledge are necessary for carrying on and improving the useful arts and industries of civilized life? This generation is beginning to understand that education should not forever be divorced from industry; that the highest results can be reached only when science guides the hand of labor...I beseech you to remember that the genius of success is still the genius of labor. If hard work is not another name for talent, it is the best possible substitute for it. In the long run, the chief difference in men will be found the the amount of work they do... and finally, Young Gentlemen, learn to cultivate a wise self-reliance, based on not what you hope, but on what you perform.
April 5
Government destitute of energy will ever produce anarchy.
James Madison, 4th President, 1809-1817- Speech in the Virginia Convention on June 5, 1788- As the new nation emerged after the Revolutionary War, there was a general debate concerning whether or not the Articles of Confederation, which loosely bound the states, was sufficient for the future of the nation. The Federalists favored a stronger Federal government, as proposed by the new Constitution, favored and engineered in a large part by Madison. "Opposing them were Patrick Henry, George Mason, William Grayson, James Monroe, John Taylor of Carolina, and other "Anti-Federalists", who believed that the Constitution created a central government that was too powerful. Henry, the leader of this faction, opposed allowing the new central government to directly tax citizens of the various states, and he feared that the newly created office of President of the United States would become far too powerful."From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Madison, George Washington, and Alexander Hamilton were among the proponents of the stronger, more centralized Federal government, with powers of taxation. Madison states, in part, "...Mr. Chairman, in considering this great subject I trust we shall find that part which gives the general government the power of laying and collecting taxes, indispensable and essential to the existence of any efficient, or well organized system of government...If we review the experience we have had, or contemplate the history of nations, here we find ample reasons to prove its expediency...If a government depends on other governments for its revenues: if it must depend on the voluntary contributions of its members, its existence must be precarious...(it)is a solecism in theory, and a mere nullity in practice. Drawn from review of ancient and modern confederacies, is that instead of promoting the public happiness, or securing public tranquility, they have, in every instance, been productive of anarchy and confusion.. and a prey to their own dissensions and foreign invasions...Without energy-without stability-the empire is a nerveless body. If the general government is to depend on the voluntary contribution of the states for its support, dismemberment of the union may be the consequence. In case of eminent danger, the states more immediately exposed to it, would only exert themselves...those remote from it would not interest themselves in that which they did not immediately perceive. The general government ought to be more empowered to defend the whole union..." From "The Writings of James Madison,Edited by Gaillard Hunt,Vol. 5, G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1904, pps 138-141".
On June 25, the convention ratified the constitution by a vote of 89 to 79. New York ratified the constitution a month later and the "new" government began operating officially on March 4, 1789 with George Washington taking the oath of office as the first President on April 30, 1789.
April 4
Experience has shown how deeply the seeds of war are planted by economic rivalry and social injustice.
Harry S. Truman, 33rd President, 1945-1953- From his address in San Francisco at the Closing Session of the United Nations Conference. June 26, 1945- the conference had convened from April 25 to June 26, 1945. V-E Day(Victory in Europe)had just been declared on May 8,1945,not quite a year after the D-Day invasion of June 6, 1944. War in the Pacific was still going on as the United Nations conference came to a close. V-J Day was not to occur until the end of the summer on August 15 and recognized finally on September 2 in the United States when Japan officially signed documents ending World War II. Truman addressed the closing session, "Mr. Chairman and Delegates to the United Nations Conference on International Organization:
I deeply regret that the press of circumstances when this Conference opened made it impossible for me to be here to greet you in person. I have asked for the privilege of coming today, to express on behalf of the people of the United States our thanks for what you have done here, and to wish you Godspeed on your journeys home...
We are grateful to you for coming. We hope you have enjoyed your stay, and that you will come again.
You assembled in San Francisco nine weeks ago with the high hope and confidence of peace-loving people the world over.
Their confidence in you has been justified.
Their hope for your success has been fulfilled...
The Charter of the United Nations which you have just signed is a solid structure upon which we can build a better world. History will honor you for it. Between the victory in Europe and the final victory in Japan, in this most destructive of all wars, you have won a victory against war itself...What you have accomplished in San Francisco shows how well these lessons of military and economic cooperation have been learned. You have created a great instrument for peace and security and human progress in the world...
The world must now use it!
If we fail to use it, we shall betray all those who have died in order that we might meet here in freedom and safety to create it.
If we seek to use it selfishly--for the advantage of any one nation or any small group of nations--we shall be equally guilty of that betrayal.
The successful use of this instrument will require the united will and firm determination of the free peoples who have created it. The job will tax the moral strength and fibre of us all.
We all have to recognize-no matter how great our strength--that we must deny ourselves the license to do always as we please. No one nation, no regional group, can or should expect, any special privilege which harms any other nation. If any nation would keep security for itself, it must be ready and willing to share security with all. That is the price which each nation will have to pay for world peace. Unless we are all willing to pay that price, no organization for world peace can accomplish its purpose.
And what a reasonable price that is...
A just and lasting peace cannot be attained by diplomatic agreement alone, or by military cooperation alone. Experience has shown how deeply the seeds of war are planted by economic rivalry and by social injustice. The Charter recognizes this fact for it has provided for economic and social cooperation as well. It has provided for this cooperation as part of the very heart of the entire compact.
April 2
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signify in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President, 1953-1961-"Chance for Peace" speech to the American Society of Newspaper Editors on April 16, 1953.- Although Eisenhower, formerly Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe in World War II, spoke against increased military spending, the Cold War deepened during his administration and political pressures for increased military spending mounted. By the time he left office in 1961, he felt it necessary to warn of the military-industrial complex. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. In his speech Eisenhower reasons, "...In this spring of 1953 the free world weighs one question above all others: the chances for a just peace for all peoples. To weigh this chance is to summon instantly to mind another recent moment of great decision. It came with that yet more hopeful spring of 1945, bright with the promise of victory and of freedom. The hopes of all just men in that moment too was a just and lasting peace.
The 8 years that have passed have seen that hope waver, grow dim, and almost die. And the shadow of fear again has darkly lengthened across the world...The Soviet government held a vastly different vision of the future. In the world of its design, security was to be found, not in mutual trust and mutual aid but in force: huge armies, subversion, rule of neighbor nations. The goal was power superiority at all cost. Security was to be sought by denying it to all others...It instilled in the free nations -- and let none doubt this -- the unshakable conviction that, as long as there persists a threat to freedom, they must, at any cost, remain armed, strong, and ready for the risk of war...The worst to be feared and the best to be expected can be simply stated.
The worst is atomic war.
The best would be this: a life of perpetual fear and tension; a burden of arms draining the wealth and the labor of all peoples; a wasting of strength that defies the American system or the Soviet system or any system to achieve true abundance and happiness for the peoples of this earth.
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.
This world in arms is not spending money alone.
It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.
The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities.
It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals...
There is, before all peoples, a precarious chance to turn the black tide of events.
If we failed to strive to seize this chance, the judgment of future ages will be harsh and just.
The purpose of the United States, in stating these proposals, is simple. These proposals spring, without ulterior motive or political passion, from our calm conviction that the hunger for peace is in the hearts of all people -- those of Russia and of China no less than of our own country.
They conform to our firm faith that God created man to enjoy, not destroy, the fruits of the earth and of their own toil.
April: "It's the economy, stupid."
April 1
"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies."
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President, 1801-1809- paraphrase of a statement Jefferson made in a letter to John Taylor May 28, 1816. Jefferson was a prolific letter writer. Most days he would write letters from sunrise to one or two o'clock in the afternoon. (http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/drudging-writing-table) He would write political and philosophical letters to colleagues, he corresponded to fellow scientists on topics such as mathematics, archtecture, agriculture, and friendly letters to family and friends. He exchanged a large volume of letters with John Adams until their deaths, both dying on July 4, 1826. Here he writes to Taylor, often referred to as John Taylor of Caroline, who was a friend and cohort of Jefferson from the early revolutionary times. During the war, Taylor served as a Colonel in the cavalry and later in the the Virginia House of Delegates and the early United States Senate from 1792-1794. He was related to General Zachary Taylor, who was elected President in 1848. Like Jefferson, he opposed a stronger federal government, believing that its power came from the states' consent. Here Jefferson thanks Taylor having sent him a copy of Taylor's book, "Enquiry into the Principles of Our Government". Jefferson responds, in part..."The sixth section on the good moral principles of our government, I found so interesting and replete with sound principles, as to postpone my letter-writing to its thorough perusal and consideration...The system of banking we have both equally and ever reprobated. I contemplate it as a blot left in all our constitutions, which, if not covered, will end in their destruction, which is already hit by the gamblers in corruption, and is sweeping away in its progress the fortunes and morals of our citizens. Funding I consider as limited, rightfully, to a redemption of the debt within the lives of a majority of the generation contracting it; every generation coming equally, by the laws of the Creator of the world, to the free possession of the earth he made for their subsistence, unencumbered by their predecessors, who, like them, were but tenants for life." Jefferson fears the acceptance of the idea that the people exist for the government and its institutions rather than the government existing for its people (as perceived in pre-revolutionary England). As with the government, banks could grow in influence to the detriment of the country and its people. He concludes, "...On this view of the import of the term republic, instead of saying, as has been said, "that it may mean anything or nothing," we may say with truth and meaning, that governments are more or less republican as they have more or less of the element of popular election and control in their composition...And I sincerely believe, with you, that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies; and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale.
I salute you with constant friendship and respect.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
March 31
Mob rule cannot be allowed to override the decisions of our courts. With deep confidence, I call upon the citizens to assist in bringing an immediate end to all interference preventing the admission of Negro children to that school…Thus will be restored the image of America and all its parts as one nation, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President, 1953-1961
Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President, 1953-1961
March 30
To sit back hoping that someday, some way, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last- but eat you he will.
Ronald Reagan, 40th President, 1981-1989
Ronald Reagan, 40th President, 1981-1989
March 29, 1790- Birthdate of John Tyler, Jr.
If the tide of defamation and abuse shall turn, and my administration come to be praised, future Vice-Presidents who may succeed to the Presidency may feel some slight encouragement to pursue an independent course.
10th President, 1841-1845, Died January 18, 1862
10th President, 1841-1845, Died January 18, 1862
March 28
Because we are now running out of gas and oil, we must prepare quickly for a third change, to strict conservation and to the use of coal and permanent renewable energy sources, like solar power.
Jimmy Carter, 39th President, 1977-1981
Jimmy Carter, 39th President, 1977-1981
March 27
I have seen the desperation and the despair of the powerless: how it twists the lives of children …how narrow the path is for them between humiliation and untrammeled fury, how easily they slip into violence and despair. I know that the response of the powerful…alternating between a dull complacency (or) unthinking application of force, of longer prison sentences is inadequate to the task.
Barack Obama, 44th President, 2009
Barack Obama, 44th President, 2009
March 26
The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.
John F. Kennedy, 35th President, 1961-1963- Remarks at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee at its 90th Anniversary Convocation, on May 18, 1963. Could you answer any of these questions? "Divide a vertical line in two equal parts by by bisecting it with a curved horizontal line that is only straight at its spot bisection of the vertical." (Question 28 of 30 from the State of Louisiana literacy test, for those who could not prove they had a fifth grade education.); or "Write every other word in this first line and print every third word in same line (original type smaller and first line ended at comma) but capitalize the fifth word that you write." (Question 29, Louisiana) When some Harvard students recently took the Louisiana test none of them passed. (http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/11/12/harvard-students-take-1964-literacy-test-black-voters-had-to-pass-before-voting-they-all-failed/); or "Any power and rights not given to the U.S. or prohibited to the states by the U.S.Constitution are specified as belonging to whom? ______________________________" (Question 68 in pre 1965 Alabama voter literacy test) In Mississippi, passing the "literacy test required a person seeking to register to vote to read a section of the state constitution and explain it to the county clerk who processed voter registrations...It excluded almost all black men, because the clerk would select complicated technical passages for them to interpret."(http://www.crf-usa.org/brown-v-board-50th-anniversary/race-and-voting.html) Even if potential voters passed these tests, they could also be required to pay a poll tax to vote in various states. The question of who has the right to vote had long been a point of intense contention in the United States. Non landowners, immigrants and women had struggled to gain the right to vote. Now, in 1963, Black Americans and Native Americans were involved in a civil rights struggle to see their right to vote recognized. As Kennedy addresses the students, he uses humor and holds forth a positive direction in which he would have them pursue: "Nearly 100 years ago Prince Bismarck said that one-third of the students of German universities broke down from overwork, another third broke down from dissipation, and the other third ruled Germany. I do not know which third of the student body of Vanderbilt is here today, but I am confident we are talking to the future rulers of Tennessee and America in the spirit of this university." He continues, "If the pursuit of learning is not defended by the educated citizen, it will not be defended at all. For there will always be those who scoff at intellectuals, who cry out against research, who seek to limit our educational system." He spurs them on by appealing to them as educated citizens, "But the educated citizen knows how much more there is to know. He knows that "knowledge is power," more so today than ever before. He knows that only an educated and informed people will be a free people, that the ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all, and that if we can, as Jefferson put it, "enlighten the people generally... tyranny and the oppressions of mind and body will vanish, like evil spirits at the dawn of day." On August 27, 1962, Congress had passed the 24th amendment to Constitution which would forbid the charging of a poll tax as a provision to vote in a federal election. It would be ratified by the states on January 23, 1964. On August 6, 1965, the Voting Rights Act, which prohibited racial discrimination in voting, was signed into law by Lyndon Johnson, almost two years after Kennedy's death. As part of his concluding remarks, Kennedy closes with the following statement, "No one can deny the complexity of the problems involved in assuring to all of our citizens their full fights as Americans. But no one can gainsay the fact that the determination to secure these rights is in the highest traditions of American freedom." (http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=9218)
John F. Kennedy, 35th President, 1961-1963- Remarks at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee at its 90th Anniversary Convocation, on May 18, 1963. Could you answer any of these questions? "Divide a vertical line in two equal parts by by bisecting it with a curved horizontal line that is only straight at its spot bisection of the vertical." (Question 28 of 30 from the State of Louisiana literacy test, for those who could not prove they had a fifth grade education.); or "Write every other word in this first line and print every third word in same line (original type smaller and first line ended at comma) but capitalize the fifth word that you write." (Question 29, Louisiana) When some Harvard students recently took the Louisiana test none of them passed. (http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/11/12/harvard-students-take-1964-literacy-test-black-voters-had-to-pass-before-voting-they-all-failed/); or "Any power and rights not given to the U.S. or prohibited to the states by the U.S.Constitution are specified as belonging to whom? ______________________________" (Question 68 in pre 1965 Alabama voter literacy test) In Mississippi, passing the "literacy test required a person seeking to register to vote to read a section of the state constitution and explain it to the county clerk who processed voter registrations...It excluded almost all black men, because the clerk would select complicated technical passages for them to interpret."(http://www.crf-usa.org/brown-v-board-50th-anniversary/race-and-voting.html) Even if potential voters passed these tests, they could also be required to pay a poll tax to vote in various states. The question of who has the right to vote had long been a point of intense contention in the United States. Non landowners, immigrants and women had struggled to gain the right to vote. Now, in 1963, Black Americans and Native Americans were involved in a civil rights struggle to see their right to vote recognized. As Kennedy addresses the students, he uses humor and holds forth a positive direction in which he would have them pursue: "Nearly 100 years ago Prince Bismarck said that one-third of the students of German universities broke down from overwork, another third broke down from dissipation, and the other third ruled Germany. I do not know which third of the student body of Vanderbilt is here today, but I am confident we are talking to the future rulers of Tennessee and America in the spirit of this university." He continues, "If the pursuit of learning is not defended by the educated citizen, it will not be defended at all. For there will always be those who scoff at intellectuals, who cry out against research, who seek to limit our educational system." He spurs them on by appealing to them as educated citizens, "But the educated citizen knows how much more there is to know. He knows that "knowledge is power," more so today than ever before. He knows that only an educated and informed people will be a free people, that the ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all, and that if we can, as Jefferson put it, "enlighten the people generally... tyranny and the oppressions of mind and body will vanish, like evil spirits at the dawn of day." On August 27, 1962, Congress had passed the 24th amendment to Constitution which would forbid the charging of a poll tax as a provision to vote in a federal election. It would be ratified by the states on January 23, 1964. On August 6, 1965, the Voting Rights Act, which prohibited racial discrimination in voting, was signed into law by Lyndon Johnson, almost two years after Kennedy's death. As part of his concluding remarks, Kennedy closes with the following statement, "No one can deny the complexity of the problems involved in assuring to all of our citizens their full fights as Americans. But no one can gainsay the fact that the determination to secure these rights is in the highest traditions of American freedom." (http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=9218)
March 24
Failure to accord credit to anyone for what he may have done is a great weakness in any man.
William Howard Taft, 27th President, 1909-1913
William Howard Taft, 27th President, 1909-1913
March 23
The only things worth learning are the things you learn after you know it all.
Harry S. Truman, 33rd President, 1945-1953
Harry S. Truman, 33rd President, 1945-1953
March 22
We do not need more intellectual power, we need more spiritual power. We do not need more of the things that are seen, we need more of the things that are unseen.
Calvin Coolidge, 30th President, 1923-1929
Calvin Coolidge, 30th President, 1923-1929
March 21
Our country’s honor calls upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion, and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world.
George Washington, 1st President, 1789-1797
George Washington, 1st President, 1789-1797
March 20
Let it (the Constitution) be taught in school, seminaries, and in colleges; let it be written in primers, in spelling books and in almanacs; let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, enforced in courts of justice. In short, let it become the political religion of the nation.
Abraham Lincoln, 16th President, 1861-1865
Abraham Lincoln, 16th President, 1861-1865
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
March 21
Our country’s honor calls upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion, and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world.
George Washington, 1st President, 1789-1797
March 20
Let it (the Constitution) be taught in school, seminaries, and in colleges; let it be written in primers, in spelling books and in almanacs; let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, enforced in courts of justice. In short, let it become the political religion of the nation.
Abraham Lincoln, 16th President, 1861-1865
March 19
Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
Abraham Lincoln, 16th President 1861-1865
March 18, 1837- Birthdate of Stephen Grover Cleveland
The lessons of paternalism ought to be unlearned and the better lesson taught that while the people should patriotically and cheerfully support their government, its functions do not include support of the people.
22nd President and 24th President, 1885-1889 and 1893-1897, Died June 24, 1908
March 17
An intellectual is man who takes more words than necessary to tell you more than he knows.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President, 1953-1961
March 16, 1751- Birthdate of James Madison
The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home.
4th President, 1809-1817, Died June 28, 1836
March 15, 1767- Birthdate of Andrew Jackson
Americans are not a perfect people but we are called to a perfect mission.
7th President, 1829-1837, Died June 8, 1845
March 14
The American, by nature, is optimistic. He is experimental, an inventor and a builder who builds best when called upon to build greatly.
John F. Kennedy, 35th President, 1961-1963
-from "The Strategy of Peace", By John F. Kennedy, Edited by Allan Nevins, 1960, Harper & Brothers. In the 1950's, Americans prospered and enjoyed the Allied victory in Europe and in the Pacific in World War II. Typical American life was portrayed in the popular TV series, "Happy Days" and movies such as, "Back to the Future" and "American Graffiti." However, in those happy, sleepy times in America, there were still many social and international problems simmering below the surface. Race and social justice would soon move to the forefront in the 1960's. More immediately, in the late 1950's and early 1960's, Kennedy believed the larger issue was "The Cold War" with Russia and stopping the advance of communism. Russia had been an ally in World War II but now sought become the world's dominant power. Russian leader, Nikita Khrushchev, had compared the United States to a worn-out runner living on its past performance and stated that the Soviet Union would out produce the United States by 1970. Presidential Press conference June 28, 1961, (http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=8209&st=&st1=). Also, Russia had launched Sputnik, the first man made satellite into orbit. It was perceived that the Russians could now launch inter-continental missiles against the United States and soon Americans were talking about building bomb shelters in their backyards. Kennedy wanted to re-assert to the world that the United States and its people, educational systems, and economic way of life were the best. He felt we could no longer afford to isolate ourselves from world affairs or competition. In his essay, written before he had become President, he states, "Instead, with the present administration...we have lapsed back into a frame of mind where we assume that we are at liberty to deal with domestic and foreign affairs separately. We assume that the Good Life we have been enjoying here at home is somehow the same as building the Good Society here at home and abroad...We have allowed a sort of sentimentalism to form in the atmosphere we breathe...(and) the desire to do good has become a substitute for tough-minded plans and operations- a substitute for a strategy...It is time once more to get on with the business of being true to the work of a Choosing People- a people who voluntarily assume the burden and the glory of advancing mankind's best hopes." In the 1960's, following Kennedy's vision, the United States lurched back into motion with great upheaval as the youth movement, the civil rights movement, the Vietnam conflict, and the Space Race captured the attention and imagination of the United States and all the world. Today, some of the issues, names, and threats have changed and we continue to have much "building" to do at home and abroad.
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