"A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both."
34th President, 1953-1961, From his first Inaugural Address, January 20, 1953. Eisenhower, a Republican, was elected to the Presidency after the administrations of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry S Truman. His rise paralleled that of the United States, itself, gaining prominence during World War I and becoming a world leader during and after the victory of World War II. He oversaw a period of peace and prosperity in the 1950's, oftentimes portrayed in television shows such as "Happy Days", contrasted with bomb shelters being built by some American families. There were also tough and controversial issues concerning the advancement of increased civil rights in education and economic opportunity. Under Eisenhower's leadership, the interstate freeway system was begun and NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, was initiated. On the world stage, Eisenhower helped negotiate the end of the Korean War and saw the escalation of "The Cold War" with the Soviet Union. The United States and its citizens had won great freedoms and with those freedoms, held great responsibility. He starts his address with a prayer: "...Give us, we pray, the power to discern clearly right from wrong, and allow all our words and actions to be governed thereby, and by the laws of this land. Especially we pray that our concern shall be for all the people regardless of station, race, or calling...". My fellow citizens: The world and we have passed the midway point of a century of continuing challenge. We sense with all our faculties that forces of good and evil are massed and armed and opposed as rarely before in history.
This fact defines the meaning of this day. We are summoned by this honored and historic ceremony to witness more than the act of one citizen swearing his oath of service, in the presence of God. We are called as a people to give testimony in the sight of the world to our faith that the future shall belong to the free...faith defines our full view of life. It establishes, beyond debate, those gifts of the Creator that are man's inalienable rights, and that make all men equal in His sight...The men who mine coal and fire furnaces and balance ledgers and turn lathes and pick cotton and heal the sick and plant corn—all serve as proudly, and as profitably, for America as the statesmen who draft treaties and the legislators who enact laws. This faith rules our whole way of life. It decrees that we, the people, elect leaders not to rule but to serve...Great as are the preoccupations absorbing us at home, concerned as we are with matters that deeply affect our livelihood today and our vision of the future, each of these domestic problems is dwarfed by, and often even created by, this question that involves all humankind. This trial comes at a moment when man's power to achieve good or to inflict evil surpasses the brightest hopes and the sharpest fears of all ages... Science seems ready to confer upon us, as its final gift, the power to erase human life from this planet...Realizing that common sense and common decency alike dictate the futility of appeasement, we shall never try to placate an aggressor by the false and wicked bargain of trading honor for security. Americans, indeed all free men, remember that in the final choice a soldier's pack is not so heavy a burden as a prisoner's chains...We must be ready to dare all for our country. For history does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid. We must acquire proficiency in defense and display stamina in purpose. We must be willing, individually and as a Nation, to accept whatever sacrifices may be required of us. A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both..."
Friday, October 14, 2011
October 13
"One great object of the Constitution was to restrain majorities from oppression of minorities or encroaching upon their just rights. Minorities have a right to appeal to the Constitution as a shield against such oppression."
James K. Polk, 11th President, 1845-1849- From his inaugural address, March 4, 1845. Polk, the first of ten children of Samuel Polk and Jane Knox, was born in what is now Pineville, North Carolina in Mecklenburg County. There Polk spent his youth and early adult life and in 1818 graduated from the fledgling University of North Carolina. While there, he became a member the Dialectic Society and gained experience in debate and public speaking. To identify themselves from their rival, The Philanthropic Society, the Dialectical Society took on the color of light blue, now known as Carolina Blue, one of the distinguished colors of the university to this day. After graduation, Polk moved west and studied law under trial lawyer, Felix Grundy, in Nashville, Tennessee. He started his political career in 1823, winning a seat in the Tennessee State Legislature. He soon won a seat in Congress and became a supporter and advisor of Andrew Jackson who became President in 1828. Polk's career progressed and he, himself, eventually was nominated President and won the election of 1844. Under his administration, the United States greatly expanded its territory, annexing the Oregon Territory after a dispute with Great Britain. In another expansion, the United States, annexed Texas after it declared independence from Mexico and after the Mexican-American War also added what is now California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. As a young President, only 49 years of age, in his Inaugural Address of 1845, Polk lays out his philosophy and interpretation of the of the Constitution as his guide. "... The Constitution itself, plainly written as it is, the safeguard of our federative compact, the offspring of concession and compromise, binding together in the bonds of peace and union this great and increasing family of free and independent States, will be the chart by which I shall be directed...“To the States, respectively, or to the people” have been reserved “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution nor prohibited by it to the States.” Each State is a complete sovereignty within the sphere of its reserved powers. The Government of the Union, acting within the sphere of its delegated authority, is also a complete sovereignty... It is a common protector of each and all the States; of every man who lives upon our soil, whether of native or foreign birth; of every religious sect, in their worship of the Almighty according to the dictates of their own conscience; of every shade of opinion, and the most free inquiry; of every art, trade, and occupation consistent with the laws of the States...By the theory of our Government majorities rule, but this right is not an arbitrary or unlimited one. It is a right to be exercised in subordination to the Constitution and in conformity to it. One great object of the Constitution was to restrain majorities from oppressing minorities or encroaching upon their just rights. Minorities have a right to appeal to the Constitution as a shield against such oppression." (http://www.inaugural.senate.gov/swearing-in/address/address-by-james-k-polk-1845). As the question of states rights grew in the coming decade, it was the very spirit of "compromise" and the question of the "rights" of the states and individuals which contributed to the coming Civil War.
James K. Polk, 11th President, 1845-1849- From his inaugural address, March 4, 1845. Polk, the first of ten children of Samuel Polk and Jane Knox, was born in what is now Pineville, North Carolina in Mecklenburg County. There Polk spent his youth and early adult life and in 1818 graduated from the fledgling University of North Carolina. While there, he became a member the Dialectic Society and gained experience in debate and public speaking. To identify themselves from their rival, The Philanthropic Society, the Dialectical Society took on the color of light blue, now known as Carolina Blue, one of the distinguished colors of the university to this day. After graduation, Polk moved west and studied law under trial lawyer, Felix Grundy, in Nashville, Tennessee. He started his political career in 1823, winning a seat in the Tennessee State Legislature. He soon won a seat in Congress and became a supporter and advisor of Andrew Jackson who became President in 1828. Polk's career progressed and he, himself, eventually was nominated President and won the election of 1844. Under his administration, the United States greatly expanded its territory, annexing the Oregon Territory after a dispute with Great Britain. In another expansion, the United States, annexed Texas after it declared independence from Mexico and after the Mexican-American War also added what is now California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Wyoming. As a young President, only 49 years of age, in his Inaugural Address of 1845, Polk lays out his philosophy and interpretation of the of the Constitution as his guide. "... The Constitution itself, plainly written as it is, the safeguard of our federative compact, the offspring of concession and compromise, binding together in the bonds of peace and union this great and increasing family of free and independent States, will be the chart by which I shall be directed...“To the States, respectively, or to the people” have been reserved “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution nor prohibited by it to the States.” Each State is a complete sovereignty within the sphere of its reserved powers. The Government of the Union, acting within the sphere of its delegated authority, is also a complete sovereignty... It is a common protector of each and all the States; of every man who lives upon our soil, whether of native or foreign birth; of every religious sect, in their worship of the Almighty according to the dictates of their own conscience; of every shade of opinion, and the most free inquiry; of every art, trade, and occupation consistent with the laws of the States...By the theory of our Government majorities rule, but this right is not an arbitrary or unlimited one. It is a right to be exercised in subordination to the Constitution and in conformity to it. One great object of the Constitution was to restrain majorities from oppressing minorities or encroaching upon their just rights. Minorities have a right to appeal to the Constitution as a shield against such oppression." (http://www.inaugural.senate.gov/swearing-in/address/address-by-james-k-polk-1845). As the question of states rights grew in the coming decade, it was the very spirit of "compromise" and the question of the "rights" of the states and individuals which contributed to the coming Civil War.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
October 12
"History is a relentless master. It has no present, only the past rushing into the future. To try to hold fast is to be swept aside."
John F. Kennedy, 35th President, 1961-1963. Sentiment echoed at Kennedy's nomination acceptance speech July 15, 1960. His speech in Los Angeles has been called ,"The New Frontier Speech." The Cold War and the Space Race with Russia were looming on the horizon, as was ongoing tension in the Middle East, and civil unrest was growing at home in the United States. "...We are not here to curse the darkness; we are here to light a candle. As Winston Churchill said on taking office some twenty years ago: If we open a quarrel between the present and the past, we shall be in danger of losing the future. Today our concern must be with that future. For the world is changing. The old era is ending. The old ways will not do. Abroad, the balance of power is shifting. New and more terrible weapons are coming into use. One-third of the world may be free, but one-third is the victim of a cruel repression, and the other third is rocked by poverty and hunger and disease. Communist influence has penetrated into Asia; it stands in the Middle East; and now festers some ninety miles off the coast of Florida. Friends have slipped into neutrality and neutrals have slipped into hostility...A technological output and explosion on the farm has led to an output explosion. An urban population revolution has overcrowded our schools and cluttered our cities and crowded our slums. A peaceful revolution for human rights, demanding an end to racial discrimination in all parts of our community life, has strained at the leashes imposed by a timid executive leadership. It is time, in short, for a new generation of leadership.(This line was echoed in 1992 by Bill Clinton, a Kennedy admirer, and expanded to also say, "it is time for a new gender of leadership.")
John F. Kennedy, 35th President, 1961-1963. Sentiment echoed at Kennedy's nomination acceptance speech July 15, 1960. His speech in Los Angeles has been called ,"The New Frontier Speech." The Cold War and the Space Race with Russia were looming on the horizon, as was ongoing tension in the Middle East, and civil unrest was growing at home in the United States. "...We are not here to curse the darkness; we are here to light a candle. As Winston Churchill said on taking office some twenty years ago: If we open a quarrel between the present and the past, we shall be in danger of losing the future. Today our concern must be with that future. For the world is changing. The old era is ending. The old ways will not do. Abroad, the balance of power is shifting. New and more terrible weapons are coming into use. One-third of the world may be free, but one-third is the victim of a cruel repression, and the other third is rocked by poverty and hunger and disease. Communist influence has penetrated into Asia; it stands in the Middle East; and now festers some ninety miles off the coast of Florida. Friends have slipped into neutrality and neutrals have slipped into hostility...A technological output and explosion on the farm has led to an output explosion. An urban population revolution has overcrowded our schools and cluttered our cities and crowded our slums. A peaceful revolution for human rights, demanding an end to racial discrimination in all parts of our community life, has strained at the leashes imposed by a timid executive leadership. It is time, in short, for a new generation of leadership.(This line was echoed in 1992 by Bill Clinton, a Kennedy admirer, and expanded to also say, "it is time for a new gender of leadership.")
October 11
"God knows that I detest slavery, but it is an existing evil, for which we are not responsible, and we must endure it, till we can get rid of it without destroying the last hope of free government in the world."
Millard Fillmore, 13th President, 1850-1853. From a letter to Daniel Webster on October 23, after signing the The Fugitive Slave Act on September 18, 1850. Fillmore, Zachary Taylor's Vice President, ascended to the Presidency when Taylor suddenly passed away in the summer of 1850. Tensions between the North and the South were already high at that time. The Missouri Compromise was passed which admitted California as a free state, Utah and New Mexico were admitted as territories with the residents given the right to vote on whether slavery would be legal or not. Also the buying and selling of slaves was abolished in Washington, D.C., and The Fugitive Slave Act was passed and signed, stating captured slaves must be returned to their "owners", no matter in what part of the country they were found. Neither side favored all of the Compromise, as Northerners did not intend to abide by The Fugitive Slave Act and Southerners were unhappy that they would not be able to expand slavery into the new territories. The compromise did not stop the South from attempting to secede from the Union, but only delayed it.
Millard Fillmore, 13th President, 1850-1853. From a letter to Daniel Webster on October 23, after signing the The Fugitive Slave Act on September 18, 1850. Fillmore, Zachary Taylor's Vice President, ascended to the Presidency when Taylor suddenly passed away in the summer of 1850. Tensions between the North and the South were already high at that time. The Missouri Compromise was passed which admitted California as a free state, Utah and New Mexico were admitted as territories with the residents given the right to vote on whether slavery would be legal or not. Also the buying and selling of slaves was abolished in Washington, D.C., and The Fugitive Slave Act was passed and signed, stating captured slaves must be returned to their "owners", no matter in what part of the country they were found. Neither side favored all of the Compromise, as Northerners did not intend to abide by The Fugitive Slave Act and Southerners were unhappy that they would not be able to expand slavery into the new territories. The compromise did not stop the South from attempting to secede from the Union, but only delayed it.
Monday, October 10, 2011
October 10
"The consequences of a speedy removal will be important to the United States...and to the Indians themselves. It will place a dense and civilized population in large tracts of land now occupied by a few savage hunters...(and) will separate the Indians from immediate contact with settlements of whites."
Andrew Jackson, 7th President, 1829-1837. From Jackson's State of the Union Address, December 6, 1830. Jackson rationalizes that the government is generous in giving land to the native tribes rather than seeing them lost or annihilated. Those Native Americans who did not leave voluntarily were forced to leave in late autumn resulting in the death of hundreds in what is now called, 'The Trail of Tears', as the tribes traveled from the southern states across the Mississippi River into Oklahoma. "...It gives me pleasure to announce to Congress that the benevolent policy of the Government, steadily pursued for nearly 30 years, in relation to the removal of the Indians beyond the white settlements is approaching to a happy consummation. Two important tribes have accepted the provision made for their removal at the last session of Congress, and it is believed that their example will induce the remaining tribes also to seek the same obvious advantages... The consequences of a speedy removal will be important to the United States, to individual States, and to the Indians themselves... Humanity has often wept over the fate of the aborigines of this country, and Philanthropy has been long busily employed in devising means to avert it, but its progress has never for a moment been arrested, and one by one have many powerful tribes disappeared from the earth...What good man would prefer a country covered with forests and ranged by a few thousand savages to our extensive Republic, studded with cities, towns, and prosperous farms, embellished with all the improvements which art can devise or industry execute, occupied by more than 12,000,000 happy people, and filled with all the blessings of liberty, civilization, and religion?"
Andrew Jackson, 7th President, 1829-1837. From Jackson's State of the Union Address, December 6, 1830. Jackson rationalizes that the government is generous in giving land to the native tribes rather than seeing them lost or annihilated. Those Native Americans who did not leave voluntarily were forced to leave in late autumn resulting in the death of hundreds in what is now called, 'The Trail of Tears', as the tribes traveled from the southern states across the Mississippi River into Oklahoma. "...It gives me pleasure to announce to Congress that the benevolent policy of the Government, steadily pursued for nearly 30 years, in relation to the removal of the Indians beyond the white settlements is approaching to a happy consummation. Two important tribes have accepted the provision made for their removal at the last session of Congress, and it is believed that their example will induce the remaining tribes also to seek the same obvious advantages... The consequences of a speedy removal will be important to the United States, to individual States, and to the Indians themselves... Humanity has often wept over the fate of the aborigines of this country, and Philanthropy has been long busily employed in devising means to avert it, but its progress has never for a moment been arrested, and one by one have many powerful tribes disappeared from the earth...What good man would prefer a country covered with forests and ranged by a few thousand savages to our extensive Republic, studded with cities, towns, and prosperous farms, embellished with all the improvements which art can devise or industry execute, occupied by more than 12,000,000 happy people, and filled with all the blessings of liberty, civilization, and religion?"
October 9
"If our house be on fire, without inquiring whether it was fired from within or without, we must try to extinguish it."
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President, 1801-1809. From a letter to James Meriwether,Jr., May 9, 1798. James Meriwether was a fellow Virginian and correspondent of Jefferson. He appears to have been the uncle of the famed Meriwether Lewis, personal secretary of Jefferson during his Presidency, who was appointed by Jefferson to lead the Lewis and Clark Expedition to survey the Louisiana Purchase. Here Jefferson speaks about unsettled conditions with England. War was averted by John Adams and through Jefferson's Presidency but broke out as the War of 1812 under James Madison. "...At this moment all the passions are boiling over, and one who keeps himself cool and clear of the contagion, is so far below the point of ordinary conversation, that he finds himself insulated in every society. However, the fever will not last. War, land-tax, and stamp-tax are sedatives which must cool its ardor. They will bring on reflection, and that, with information, is all which our countrymen need, to bring themselves and their affairs to rights...It is our duty still to endeavor to avoid war: but if it shall actually take place, no matter by whom brought on, we must defend ourselves. If our house be on fire, without inquiring whether it was fired from within or without, we must try to extinguish it. In that, I have no doubt, we shall act as one man. But if we can ward off actual war till the crisis of England is over, I shall hope we may escape it altogether."
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President, 1801-1809. From a letter to James Meriwether,Jr., May 9, 1798. James Meriwether was a fellow Virginian and correspondent of Jefferson. He appears to have been the uncle of the famed Meriwether Lewis, personal secretary of Jefferson during his Presidency, who was appointed by Jefferson to lead the Lewis and Clark Expedition to survey the Louisiana Purchase. Here Jefferson speaks about unsettled conditions with England. War was averted by John Adams and through Jefferson's Presidency but broke out as the War of 1812 under James Madison. "...At this moment all the passions are boiling over, and one who keeps himself cool and clear of the contagion, is so far below the point of ordinary conversation, that he finds himself insulated in every society. However, the fever will not last. War, land-tax, and stamp-tax are sedatives which must cool its ardor. They will bring on reflection, and that, with information, is all which our countrymen need, to bring themselves and their affairs to rights...It is our duty still to endeavor to avoid war: but if it shall actually take place, no matter by whom brought on, we must defend ourselves. If our house be on fire, without inquiring whether it was fired from within or without, we must try to extinguish it. In that, I have no doubt, we shall act as one man. But if we can ward off actual war till the crisis of England is over, I shall hope we may escape it altogether."
Saturday, October 8, 2011
October 8
"Now more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If the next centennial does not find us a great nation...it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces."
James A Garfield, 20th President, 1881, -From an Address, July 4, 1876 commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. "Now more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave, and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature… If the NEXT CENTENNIAL does not find us a great nation…it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces.” Garfield had been a college professor and preacher as a young man and turned from teaching and preaching to politics, joining the Republic Party and opposing slavery. He fought in the Civil War and rose to the rank of Major General. In Congress, he became known as a hard worker and eloquent speaker. In 1876, the country was still struggling in the aftermath of the Civil War and there was general unrest in the population and corruption in the government. With his background as a preacher, perhaps he drew inspiration from the Biblical book of Proverbs, one of which states, "If you remain indifferent in time of adversity, your strength will depart from you." (Prov 24:10) or "Virtue exalts a nation, but sin is a people's disgrace."(Prov 14:34) Clearly he believed in democracy and the rights of people but also that the people held responsibility as well.
James A Garfield, 20th President, 1881, -From an Address, July 4, 1876 commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. "Now more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave, and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature… If the NEXT CENTENNIAL does not find us a great nation…it will be because those who represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid in controlling the political forces.” Garfield had been a college professor and preacher as a young man and turned from teaching and preaching to politics, joining the Republic Party and opposing slavery. He fought in the Civil War and rose to the rank of Major General. In Congress, he became known as a hard worker and eloquent speaker. In 1876, the country was still struggling in the aftermath of the Civil War and there was general unrest in the population and corruption in the government. With his background as a preacher, perhaps he drew inspiration from the Biblical book of Proverbs, one of which states, "If you remain indifferent in time of adversity, your strength will depart from you." (Prov 24:10) or "Virtue exalts a nation, but sin is a people's disgrace."(Prov 14:34) Clearly he believed in democracy and the rights of people but also that the people held responsibility as well.
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