Little did we know in those years of the 1950’s that Ronald Reagan was also emerging as the leader of what has come to be known as the conservative movement in governing philosophy. Reagan’s famous speech, “A Time for Choosing” [Click HERE.] in support of Barry Goldwater’s bid for the presidency in 1964, soon launched him into his first political office. Reagan served two terms as governor of the State of California (1967-1975) and two terms as President of the United States during the tumultuous Vietnam War era and post-war era of American History (1980-1988). He restored American hope and led the world in bringing an end to the cold war with the communistic Soviet Union. These and other achievements have earned Ronald Reagan the honor along with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln to be ranked in the top 10 of our greatest U.S. presidents.
"February Presidents"
We dedicate this month’s blog to the three “February Presidents” of the United States. We will do so by emphasizing their faith, beliefs, and values as expressed in their own words. What follows are expressions from these great leaders, each speaking in their own times; Washington in the 18th century, Lincoln in the 19th, and Reagan in the 20th century; and with words clearly relevant to our time.
To begin, let's assess your knowledge of the three "February presidents." The following quiz will challenge you to match the description in each item with the correct name of the president, Washington (GW), Lincoln (AL), or Reagan (RR). [Answers are given at the end of this blog.]
Quiz:
1. Known
as “the great communicator.”
2. He was the tallest of all U.S. presidents.
3.
The man who humbly “refused to be
king.”
4.
Famous for his policy of “Peace
through Strength.”
5.
He is in the Wrestling Hall of Fame.
6.
This president survived an assassination
attempt.
7.
Over 12 billion $1-bills in
circulation bear his image.
8.
“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”
9.
He was the only U.S. president to have
a patent.
10. As a young man, served as a surveyor in the Ohio Valley.
11. Read the Bible every day, but never joined a church.
12. He had no direct association with the state of Illinois.
We have chosen several topics that represent timeless American values. These were important to each of our three “February presidents.” We hope you will sense how clearly each leader expressed a similar strong and steadfast support for the timeless moral and ethical values of our Founding Fathers. As Scott S. Powell has written in The Federalist [Click HERE.], "To the extent we can internalize and build character around the virtues that each embodied, we to can regain our voice and courage to fight and reestablish our unalienable rights that define who we are as Americans. Our success in this may well be the key to preventing our nation's downfall.
Parents and Family
My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her. ~ GW
From my mother I learned the value of prayer, how to have dreams and believe I could make them come true. … She said all things were part of God's plan, even the most disheartening setbacks, and in the end, everything worked out for the best. ~ RR
Faith and Morality
Let us with caution indulge the notion that morality can be maintained without religion. …reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. ~ GW
I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong. ~ AL
The struggle now going on for the world will never be decided by bombs or rockets, by armies or military might. The real crisis we face today is a spiritual one; at root, it is a test of moral will and faith.” ~ RR
War and Peace
To be prepared for war is one of the most effective ways of preserving peace. ~ GW
Let your military measures be strong enough to repel the invader and keep the peace… ~ AL
Preserving Our Freedom
If the freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter. …The liberty enjoyed by the people of these states of worshiping Almighty God agreeably to their conscience, is not only among the choicest of their blessings, but also of their rights. ~ GW
At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? If it ever reaches us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. … As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.” ~ AL
The constitution was never meant to prevent people from praying; its declared purpose was to protect their freedom to pray. ~ RR
Meaning and Purpose
If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under. ~ RR
Science and the Arts
There is nothing which can better deserve your patronage, than the promotion of science and literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness. ~ GW
I know of no pursuit in which more real and important services can be rendered to any country than by improving its agriculture, its breed of useful animals, and other branches of a husbandman’s cares. ~ GW
Upon the subject of education, not presuming to dictate any plan or system respecting it, I can only say that I view it as the most important subject which we as a people can be engaged in. ~ AL
If America is to offer greater economic opportunity to her citizens, if she’s to defend our freedom, democracy, and keep the peace, then our children will need wisdom, courage, and strength – virtues beyond their reach without education. In the words of Thomas Jefferson: If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be.” ~ RR
In 1891, a book of prayers by Washington in his own handwriting was sold at auction. Whether composed by Washington or copied for personal use, in one prayer, Washington asks God to pardon him of his sins, and remove them from thy presence, as far as the east is from the west, and accept me for the merits of thy son, Jesus Christ, that when I come into thy temple and compass thine altar, my prayers may come before thee as incense. – From: George Washington the Christian, by William Johnson ~ GW
When I left Springfield, I asked the people to pray for me; I was not a Christian. When I buried my son, the severest trial of my life, I was not a Christian. But when I saw the graves of thousands of our soldiers, I then and there consecrated myself to Christ. I do love Jesus.” ~ AL
From Ronald Reagan’s letter to his father-in-law, a professing atheist, near his death [Click HERE.]:
“Loyal, you and Edith have known a great love — more than many have been permitted to know. That love will not end with the end of this life, …all that is required is that you believe and tell God you put yourself in his hands.” [According to Nancy Reagan, two days before Loyal’s death on Aug. 19, 1982, her father sought out a hospital chaplain, and prayed with him.]
Reagan’s diary [Click HERE.] records his prayer for the soul of his would-be assassin and pledge to serve God with his life now spared from death. ~ RR
Favorite Scripture Verse
Judge not, that ye be not judged. – Matthew 7: 1 ~ AL
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. -- John 3:16 ~ RR
Love of Country
I was summoned by my country, whose voice I can never hear but with veneration and love. ~ GW
“…lesson number one about America: All great change in America begins at the dinner table. So, tomorrow night in the kitchen I hope the talking begins. And children, if your parents haven’t been teaching you what it means to be an American, let ’em know and nail ’em on it. That would be a very American thing to do.” ~ RR
Limited Government
Government is not reason and it is not eloquence. It is force! Like fire it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action. ~ GW
We who live in free market societies believe that growth prosperity and ultimately human fulfillment, are created from the bottom up, not the government down. Only when the human spirit is allowed to invent and create, only when individuals are given a personal stake in deciding economic policies and benefitting from their success—only then can society remain economically alive, dynamic, progressive, and free. Trust the people.” ~ RR
Hand of Providence
The Hand of providence has been so conspicuous in all this, that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked, that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations. ~ GW
I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day. ~ AL
Let your heart feel for the afflictions and distresses of every one, and let your hand give in proportion to your purse; remembering always the estimation of the widow's mite, but, that it is not every one who asketh that deserveth charity; all, however, are worthy of the inquiry, or the deserving may suffer. ~ GW
Lincoln was deeply familiar with the sting of death, having lost his mother at age 9, and his sister a decade later; and then, the first romantic love of his life, Ann Rutledge, to typhoid fever. His consoling letter to Fanny McCullough [Click HERE for full detail.], following the death of her father, Lt. Col. William McCullough, in the American Civil War reveals Lincoln’s deep compassion and empathy, born from personal experience:
You cannot now realize that you will ever feel better. Is not this so? And yet it is a mistake. You are sure to be happy again. To know this, which is certainly true, will make you some less miserable now. I have had experience enough to know what I say; and you need only to believe it, to feel better at once. ~ AL
They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers. And I want to say something to the school children of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle’s takeoff. I know it’s hard to understand but sometimes painful things like this happen. It’s all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It’s all part of taking a chance and expanding man’s horizons. The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted. It belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we’ll continue to follow them. …[They] honored us for the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and slipped the surly bonds of Earth, to touch the face of God. Thank you. ~ RR [Click HERE for video of full message.]
“Military-Industrial Complex”
Over grown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty, and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty. ~ GW
...corporations have been enthroned, and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands, and the Republic is destroyed. ~ AL
There’s a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts. [as applied to the Pentagon or any branch of government]. ~ RR
Civil Rights and Slavery
I wish from my soul that the legislature of this State could see the policy of a gradual Abolition of Slavery. ~ GW
This is a world of compensations; and he who would be no slave, must consent to have no slave. Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, cannot long retain it. ~ AL
I leave you, hoping that the lamp of liberty will burn in your bosoms until there shall no longer be a doubt that all men are created free and equal. ~ AL
The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the Courage and Conduct of this army—Our cruel and unrelenting Enemy leaves us no choice but a brave resistance, or the most abject submission; this is all we can expect…Our own Country’s Honor, all call upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion, and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world —Let us therefore rely upon the goodness of the Cause, and the aid of the Supreme Being, in whose hands Victory is…. – From Founders Online [Click HERE.] ~ GW
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan – to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations. ~AL
We’re blessed with the opportunity to stand for something, for liberty and freedom and fairness, and these are things worth fighting for, worth devoting our lives to. ~ RR
Additional Reading:
1) “The Man Who Would Not Be King” Click HERE, by Matthew Spalding, Heritage Foundation.
2) “Lincoln and Christianity” – dissertation by Kermit White. Click HERE.
3) Ronald Reagan’s best debate moments: Click HERE.
4) “Character Qualities of a Steward-Leader” Oikonomia, May 31, 2012 Click HERE.
Answers to Quiz:
1. RR 5. AL 9. AL
2. AL 6. RR 10. GW
3. GW 7. GW 11. AL
4. RR 8. RR 12. GW
Now It's Your Turn:
We would like to hear from you? Who is your favorite U.S. president and why? Just use the "Comment" link below to respond, or write to us at silviusj@gmail.com
Acknowledgement:
Special thanks to Larry and Donna Moore for their hospitality, conversations, encouragement, and access to their WiFi necessary to publish this blog.
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