Lincoln in Color

Gettysburg Address

Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war...testing whether this nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated....can long endure.

We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field for the final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live, It is altogether fitting and proper that we do this.

But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate....we cannot consecrate....we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far and above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

It is for us living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be dedicated to the great task before us.... that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion...that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain...that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom... and the government of the people... by the people.....and for the people.... shall not perish from the earth.

A. Lincoln 11-19-1863

Victory or Death

Vol. 1                                      Issue 26

The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out and meet it.   Thucydides


                  VICTORY OR DEATH

Cold winter winds came early in 1776. Snow weighed heavy on the oak trees lining the streets of Trenton, New Jersey.  Ice would soon cover the nearby Delaware River. Standing on the western banks, a solitary soldier pondered the smoke rising from the distant town. A new storm was coming.

In the warm summer of  1776, a new nation was conceived upon the unique proposition that all people were created equal and were ordained by God with certain unalienable rights. From this proposition emerged the American Nation whose citizens have transformed the world. Few understand that in early winter of 1776, the fate of the entire American experience rested upon the shoulders of the American soldier.

George Washington was an unlikely soldier. At age 44, he was a successful plantation owner. His military experience as a militia colonel was decades old. Facing the most powerful military in the world, he led a ragged army that had been chased from Harlem Heights in New York across the farmlands of New Jersey to the western banks of the the Delaware River in Pennsylvania. Beaten and battered, barely clothed and poorly armed, the Continental Army was but one pitched battle away from annihilation.

Yet in the face of it all, on the banks of the Delaware River, General Washington conceived of a bold plan.  Pulling paper from his pocket, he penned his assessment of the prospects of the coming battle.  He wrote simply: "Victory or Death".

Crusty fisherman from Marblehead Massachusetts commandeered flat bottom boats and ferried 2400 soldiers and 18 cannon across the icy Delaware River Christmas night 1776. Battling a fierce winter storm, Washington and his army of patriots marched four hours through the night to the outskirts of Trenton.  At 8 am they opened fire on the unsuspecting garrison of Hessian Mercenaries.  In an hour of intense hand to hand fighting, the Patriot Army prevailed, killing and capturing the entire garrison of nearly 1000 soldiers.

Days later, General Washington and his army crossed the Delaware for a second time and marched on the British in Princeton. Initially routed by the more disciplined Redcoat Army, the Continentals rallied when General Washington on horseback appeared waiving his sword.  Standing with them amid musket fire and cannon shot, he personally directed a furious counterattack which drove the British from the battlefield.

In ten days and in two battles, a solitary soldier changed history.  While many years and much hardship would be endured before Independence could be secured, the ten days in late December 1776 proved to be the turning point in the Revolution. These days transformed General Washington into a national hero and revealed to his soldiers and to the nation as a whole the depth of his character and the force of his resolve.

At a time when officers bickered over promotions and soldiers required bonuses to ensure re-enlistment, Washington worked for no pay, and from 1776 to 1781 remained at his post without taking leave.  At a time when Congressional leaders abandoned Philadelphia for the safety of Baltimore, Washington faced British muskets alongside his troops.

Successfully crossing the Delaware not only solidified Washington as the military leader of the country, he emerged as the political and moral leader as well.  He was seen as a leader whose actions need not be embellished by his rhetoric.


His strength of character fostered an ambition for the success of the citizens of the new nation over his own. He acquired status and power which exceeded any to which a person of grander ambition may have aspired by simply doing his duty to God and country. As observed by Fisher Ames, Washington was one of "that small number" of men "who were no less distinguished for the elevation of their virtues than the luster of their talents. . . who were born, and who acted through life as if they were born, not for themselves, but for their country and the whole human race."

From the despair of Valley Forge to the victory at Yorktown, the military genius of George Washington secured our Independence.  As moderator of the Constitutional Convention, George Washington used his political leadership to give birth to a government of the people, by the people and for the people.  As nation's first president, it was the personal integrity of George Washington that defined the role of the chief executive and fostered the peaceful transition of governmental power by votes placed in a ballot box rather than by force of arms.

As the political progeny of a great American, let us commemorate the 280th anniversary of his death by acknowledging that as "Citizens by birth, or choice of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate [our] affections.  The name of AMERICAN, which belongs to [us], in [our] national capacity must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations.  With slight shades of difference, [we]  have the same Religion, Manners, Habits, and Political Principles. [We] have in a common cause fought and triumphed together. The independence and liberty [we] possess are the work of joint councils, and joint efforts; of common dangers, sufferings and successes."

Let us dedicate ourselves anew to the proposition that a free government can only spring forth from a bedrock of religion and morality. Washington understood that public virtue could not be expected to exist in a land whose citizenry fostered a climate of private vice.  "Let us with caution indulge in the supposition 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."

February 22nd is not President's Day.  It is the birthday of George Washington, the father of our nation.  Let us rejoice that among all nations we have been blessed by presence of such greatness among us

ATTICUS

The Gipper....in Honor of the Birthday of the President

SELF EVIDENT TRUTHS 


Vol. 1                          Issue 25
      

THE ENDURING LEGACY OF FREEDOM*

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.      
                             Ronald Wilson Reagan

In 2002, the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education voted to name a new high school after the 40^th President of the United States. The Ronald Wilson Reagan High School will open in August of 2005 near Pfafftown, North Carolina.

At  the public hearing held to consider the naming of schools, a local historian gave the Board a much-needed lesson on the life and contributions of a local African American for whom another high school was named. As we considered the enormous contributions made by Simon Green Atkins, it became apparent that our collective apathy toward history has a way of dulling our senses toward true American heroes.  

In any assessment of history, one such hero is Ronald Wilson Reagan. His contributions to our country and our world require no lengthy explanation. He restored our nation to economic and political health, and successfully confronted the menace of communism abroad and public malaise at home. Still, honoring his accomplishments by naming a high school in Pfafftown, N.C., paled in comparison to honors already bestowed upon him by this nation and by countries around the world.

The naming was not without controversy.  In letters to the Winston-Salem Journal, some in the community complained that the school was named after President Reagan because of the party affiliation of the Board of Education. Others complained that President Reagan had little significant connection to our community. One irate citizen told me that Reagan was just a worn out actor turned politician, and not worthy of such a high honor.

The critics did not understand Ronald Reagan nor did they understand that the new high school was named for the children of Forsyth County. Ronald Reagan embodied what it means to be an American; why it is important to pledge allegiance to one nation under God and to stand at attention when the National Anthem is played; why we pause on Memorial Day and honor those who gave their lives defending our nation; why we pray for our neighbors and show compassion to our enemies; why we should have the courage to stand resolute against injustice and to believe that our nation really is that shining city on a hill, a beacon to all who love and cherish freedom.

Peggy Noonan authored a wonderful book on President Reagan entitled When Character was King. She concludes the book with an epilogue reciting a story of a little boy visiting the White House. She opines, “The little bodies of children are the repositories of the greatness of a future age. And they must be encouraged, must eat from the tales of those who’ve gone before, and brandished their swords, and slayed dragons.”

Behind each name on the facade of school buildings throughout Forsyth County is a story of an American hero. These men and women have neither brandished swords nor slain dragons, but I am sure that they were heroes nonetheless, whose life stories would serve as encouragement to children of another age.

Most will know of John F. Kennedy and Thomas Jefferson. Others may be able to say something of Richard J. Reynolds or John C. Whitaker. If they are observant, Marvin Ward or Julian Gibson may still walk in their midst. Still, the stories of Lafayette Cook or John Ashley may be hard to find.  Few in our community can distinguish John W. Moore from David Petree, or Prince Ibraham from Rowland Latham.  Only those who read the historical marker on Fourth Street can tell you that Robert B. Glenn is the only Forsyth County native to be elected governor of North Carolina

What story will the name Ronald Wilson Reagan evoke?  I believe it is the collective story of the American Dream, and I believe the words of President Reagan say it best: “The dreams of people may differ, but everyone wants their dream to come true.  Not everybody aspires to be a bank president or a nuclear scientist, but everybody wants to do something with one’s life that will give him or her pride and a sense of accomplishment. And America, above all places, gives us the freedom to do that, the freedom to reach out and make our dreams come true.”

Like few others Reagan understood both the cost and the responsibility for a nation graced with freedom. He understood that freedom is a gift from an Almighty God to all humanity. It is our birthright as a nation, a precious legacy passed from one generation to the next. All Americans should see our nation through the eyes of Ronald Reagan.

“I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still.  And how stands the city on this winter night?"

"After 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she's still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home."

A cruel illness silenced the Great Communicator long before he drew his last breath. Still his spirit remains. For the genius of Ronald Reagan was not embodied within his graceful style and gentle humor. He was a man of great ideas but these ideas were not his own. Personal freedom and individual responsibility, limited government and strong national defense have been the cornerstones of our Republic for over 200 years. He connected with people as he reflected like a mirror the very essence of our own American spirit. He appealed to our best dreams with encouragement and tempered our worst fears with optimism reminding us that our best days as Americans are but one horizon away.

As Ronald Wilson Reagan enters into the shining city of the Lord, may he be content with the knowledge that the sons and daughters of this great nation will keep the fires of freedom burning in our hearts and throughout this land. That this one nation conceived in liberty and blessed by Almighty God shall not perish from the earth. 

Well done thy good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord.

*originally published on the occasion of the death of the President