Presidents - Our Lost Founding Archives

Dewey Defeats Truman?! “Go to the polls and vote…”

On this day in 1948, incumbent Harry S. Truman defeats challenger Thomas E. Dewey in the greatest upset in presidential election history.

This was despite the premature assertion of an early edition of the Chicago Tribune with the banner headline “DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN.”
(Yes, that’s Harry Truman holding that newspaper.)

Go and Vote…

On Election Eve, concluding his Whistle Stop Train Tour, President Truman spoke from his home in Independence, Missouri. His remarks were carried on a nationwide radio broadcast, and here are a few of them:

“I believe with all my heart and soul that Almighty God has intended the United States of America to lead the world to peace. . .. We failed to meet our obligation. . ..

And now, my fellow citizens, the future welfare of our country is in your hands. I have told you the truth as God has given me wisdom to see the truth.

Go to the polls tomorrow and vote your convictions, your hopes, and your faith — your faith in the future of a nation that under God can lead the world to freedom and to peace.”

Meanwhile, lets us bear in mind what Samuel Adams said about voting:

Mr. Samuel Adams on Voting Accountability

November 2, 2020/0 Comments/by Our Lost Founding

Founding Fathers, Presidents, The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding

“Bestow the Best of Blessings on this House”

On this day in 1800, John Adams finally moves in to the as-yet-unfinished President’s House — now known as the White House — in Washington, D.C. Construction had been ongoing since 1792.

It was the final year of his only term as president, so he and his wife Abigail lived there for only a few months. On February 17, 1801, Thomas Jefferson was elected president.

“This House…”

On November 2, the day after moving in, President Adams writes to his wife Abigail about their new home:

“I pray heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house and on all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof!”

In 1945, the final year of World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had that blessing carved in to the stone fireplace of the State Dining Room, where it is seen today. Perhaps we all ought to pray it again, that it may also be felt.

November 1, 2020/0 Comments/by Our Lost Founding

Presidents, The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding, World War II

I like Ike… and you should too.

On this day in 1890, Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States, is born in Texas.

“Ike,” as he was affectionately called, had the words “under God” inserted in to the pledge of allegiance, and Ike made “In God We Trust” our nation’s official motto.

Those are a few reasons why “I like Ike.”

Appropriate Address

Now, “[m]y friends, before I begin the expression of those thoughts that I deem appropriate to this moment, would you permit me the privilege of uttering a little private prayer of my own. And I ask that you bow your heads.”

That’s how Eishenhower began his inaugural address on January 20, 1953.

His prayer proves pertinent, even today:

“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.

May cooperation be permitted and be the mutual aim of those who, under the concepts of our Constitution, hold to differing political faiths; so that all may work for the good of our beloved country and Thy glory. Amen.”

Then, having concluded his prayer, and getting further in to his address, he asked a question that may have no earthly answer:

“In the swift rush of great events, we find ourselves groping to know the full sense and meaning of these times in which we live. In our quest of understanding, we beseech God’s guidance. We summon all our knowledge of the past and we scan all signs of the future. We bring all our wit and all our will to meet the question:

How far have we come in man’s long pilgrimage from darkness toward the light? Are we nearing the light–a day of freedom and of peace for all mankind? Or are the shadows of another night closing in upon us?”

At such a time…

Next, he calls for a renewal of faith. That’s a call each generation needs to answer:

“At such a time in history, we who are free must proclaim anew our faith. This faith is the abiding creed of our fathers. It is our faith in the deathless dignity of man, governed by eternal moral and natural laws.

This 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.”

Perhaps Our time in history isn’t much different.

(Be sure to “Unscroll…” more about Ike by searching Our other posts.)

October 14, 2020/0 Comments/by Our Lost Founding

Presidents, The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding

Harry Truman and a “fervent” first

On this day in 1947, President Harry Truman delivers the first ever televised presidential address from the White House.

At the time, television was in its infancy and the number of Americans with television sets in their home was only in the thousands. President Truman sought the support of the American people for a food conservation program proposed by the Citizens Food Committee. The program offered help to European nations where “crops have suffered so badly from droughts, floods, and cold from droughts, floods, and cold” in the wake of World War II.

Truman said “Our self-denial will serve us well in the years to come.”

Then, here’s how he concluded the address:

“Hungry people in other countries look to the United States for help. I know that they will be strengthened and encouraged by this evidence of our friendship.

I know that they will be waiting with hope in their hearts and a fervent prayer on their lips for the response of our people to this program.

We must not fail them.”

Of course, in 1952 it was President Harry Truman who issued a Presidential Proclamation for a National Day of Prayer:

“I… do hereby proclaim… a National Day of Prayer, on which all of us, in our churches, in our homes, and in our hearts, may beseech God to grant us wisdom to know the course which we should follow, and strength and patience to pursue that course steadfastly. May we also give thanks to Him for His constant watchfulness over us in every hour of national prosperity and national peril.”

We must not fail to pray.

After all, fasting and prayer go hand-in-hand.

October 5, 2020/0 Comments/by Our Lost Founding

In God We Trust, Presidents, War on Terror

Patriot Day 2020

In these United States, September 11 is proclaimed Patriot Day, and is observed as the National Day of Service and Remembrance.

The bill to designate September 11 of each year as Patriot Day was introduced on October 25, 2001 with 22 co-sponsors: eleven Democrats and eleven Republicans.

Here are portions of this year’s Proclamation on Patriot Day, 2020:

“In 2001, our Nation, united under God, made an unbreakable promise never to forget the nearly 3,000 innocent Americans who were senselessly killed on September 11. On this sacred day — Patriot Day — we solemnly honor that commitment.
…

To fulfill our collective promise never to forget, we impart the memory of that fateful day to our children and grandchildren. The smoke that rose from the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and the Pennsylvania field carried away the souls of innocent Americans. As we recall the images of our American Flag raised from the ashes of Ground Zero and the Pentagon, we are reminded that good triumphs over evil. We recommit ourselves to fortifying our cherished American values so that future generations will know in their souls that the United States is the land of the free and the home of the brave.

This Patriot Day, we commemorate the lives of those who perished on September 11, 2001, we pray for the families who carry on their legacies, and we honor the unmatched bravery of our Nation’s first responders. We also commend those who, in the days and years following the attack, answered the call to serve our country and continue to risk their lives in defense of the matchless blessings of freedom.”

For posterity, let US all stand United as Patriots, on this, and every day, as have the American Patriots of previous generations. Now, as always:

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto – “In God is our trust,”

September 11, 2020/0 Comments/by Our Lost Founding

Presidents, The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding, Vice Presidents

Gerald Ford: Presidents, Prayers, a Pardon, and a Profile in Courage

On this day in 1974, President Gerald Ford grants a pardon to former President Richard Nixon for his involvement in the Watergate scandal.

Facing impeachment and removal from office, President Nixon resigned on August 8th, exactly one month prior to Ford’s “full, free and absolute” pardon.

At that time, Ford’s merciful decision was widely condemned, and likely cost him the 1976 election against opponent Jimmy Carter.

Even so, Ford received the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation Profile in Courage Award in 2001 for his decision to “write the end” to “an American tragedy.”

Forgiveness, from a personal to a national scale, is indeed courageous.

“Justice Without Mercy”

It seems Gerald Ford had the bigger picture in mind, as you will see in Our previous posts:

Gerald Ford: “Humble Servant of God”

Richard Nixon resigns: “May God’s grace be with you…”

September 8, 2020/0 Comments/by Our Lost Founding

Presidents, The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding

Richard Nixon resigns: “May God’s grace be with you…”

On this day in 1968, Richard Nixon receives the Republican Party nomination for the presidency. In November, of course, he goes on to win the election.

Ironically, also on August 8th, in 1974, President Nixon announces his resignation “effective at noon tomorrow.”
Facing impeachment “because of the Watergate matter” he said he wanted to “put the interest of America first.”

As a result, Vice President Gerald Ford is sworn in as President shortly thereafter.

Richard Nixon was the first American president to resign. In his televised, evening address to the American people he quoted Theodore Roosevelt as he recounted his decades in public service during what he rightly deemed “the turbulent history of [that] era”:

“Sometimes I have succeeded and sometimes I have failed, but always I have taken heart from what Theodore Roosevelt once said about the man in the arena, “whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again because there is not effort without error and shortcoming, but who does actually strive to do the deed, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumphs of high achievements and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.”

He closed his address:
“To have served in this office is to have felt a very personal sense of kinship with each and every American. In leaving it, I do so with this prayer: May God’s grace be with you in all the days ahead.”

“Justice Without Mercy”

President Ford pardoned Nixon, and in doing so, reminded us: “we are a nation under God, so I am sworn to uphold our laws with the help of God. And I have sought such guidance and searched my own conscience with special diligence to determine the right thing for me to do with respect to my predecessor in this place, Richard Nixon, and his loyal wife and family.
Theirs is an American tragedy in which we all have played a part. It could go on and on and on, or someone must write the end to it. I have concluded that only I can do that, and if I can, I must.”

He added:
“I do believe, with all my heart and mind and spirit, that I, not as President but as a humble servant of God, will receive justice without mercy if I fail to show mercy.”

August 8, 2020/1 Comment/by Our Lost Founding

American Icons, Presidents, The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding

NASA : “the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure”

On this day in 1958, Congress passes legislation establishing NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

A few years later, on May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy delivers his Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs. During “Section IX: Space,” he famously challenged:
“First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.”

Later, on September 12, 1962 he reiterated that important challenge:
“We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”

There

Finally, he concluded with stirring simplicity:
“Many years ago the great British explorer George Mallory, who was to die on Mount Everest, was asked why did he want to climb it. He said, “Because it is there.”

Well, space is there, and we’re going to climb it, and the moon and the planets are there, and new hopes for knowledge and peace are there. And, therefore, as we set sail we ask God’s blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked.”

July 29, 2020/0 Comments/by Our Lost Founding

Civil War, Presidents, The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding

Ulysses S. Grant: “our guide in the future”

On this day in 1885, Civil War hero and former President Ulysses S. Grant dies.

Grant graduated from West Point in 1843 and served in the Mexican-American War. Later, he re-enlisted in the Army in 1861 and led the Union army to victory at Vicksburg in 1863. Then President Abraham Lincoln gave Ulysses Grant the rank of lieutenant general in March 1864, which until that point had been exclusive to George Washington.

Of course, on April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House, making Grant a national hero.

Then, in 1869 he began his first of two terms as president, and spent the last few years of his life writing his Civil War memoirs, and then died of throat cancer, likely due to his habit of chain cigar-smoking.

Precepts and Practice

In 1876, he wrote a message “To the Children and Youth of the U.S.:

“Hold fast to the Bible as the sheet-anchor of your liberties; write its precepts in your heart, and practice them in your lives. To the influence of this Book we are indebted for all the progress made in true civilization, and to this we must look as our guide in the future.
‘Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.’ ” (emphasis added)

July 23, 2020/0 Comments/by Our Lost Founding

Presidents, The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding

Gerald Ford: “Humble Servant of God”

On this day in 1913, Gerald Ford, the 38th President, is born in Omaha, Nebraska.

Gerald Ford grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and played football at the University of Michigan. He was voted the team MVP in his senior year. In 1941, he obtained a law degree from Yale and was also a model. Next, in 1942, he joined the Navy and served in World War II until it ended in 1945.

Then, in 1973, President Richard Nixon chose Gerald Ford to be his vice president. As such, Ford became the first vice president to assume office after the resignation of a president when Nixon resigned in 1974.

Ford’s presidency began on the heels of the divisive Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal. In addition, he narrowly avoided two assassination attempts.

“Justice Without Mercy”

Ford faced fierce criticism for his decision to pardon Richard Nixon upon becoming president, in an effort, as he saw it to “write the end” to “an American tragedy” that could “go on and on.” Here are some more of his remarks about the pardon:

“I have promised to uphold the Constitution, to do what is right as God gives me to see the right, and to do the very best that I can for America.

I have asked your help and your prayers, not only when I became President but many times since. The Constitution is the supreme law of our land and it governs our actions as citizens. Only the laws of God, which govern our consciences, are superior to it.

As we are a nation under God, so I am sworn to uphold our laws with the help of God. And I have sought such guidance and searched my own conscience with special diligence to determine the right thing for me to do with respect to my predecessor in this place, Richard Nixon, and his loyal wife and family.

Theirs is an American tragedy in which we all have played a part. It could go on and on and on, or someone must write the end to it. I have concluded that only I can do that, and if I can, I must.”

“I deeply believe in equal justice for all Americans, whatever their station or former station. The law, whether human or divine, is no respecter of persons; but the law is a respecter of reality.”

“I do believe that right makes might and that if I am wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference. I do believe, with all my heart and mind and spirit, that I, not as President but as a humble servant of God, will receive justice without mercy if I fail to show mercy.”

Gerald Ford died the day after Christmas in 2006, at the age of 93.

July 14, 2020/1 Comment/by Our Lost Founding

John F. Kennedy Acceptance Speech Democratic National Convention 1960

American Icons, Presidents, The Common Thread of Our Lost Founding

JFK: “We too, shall wait upon the Lord”

Nominated

On this day in 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy is nominated for the presidency by the Democratic Convention, defeating Senator Lyndon B. Johnson, who is named his running mate the next day.

Upon accepting the nomination, JFK closed his address with these words:

“Give me your help, your hand, your voice, your vote. Recall with me the words of Isaiah: “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary.”

As we face the coming challenge, we too, shall wait upon the Lord, and ask that he renew our strength. Then shall we be equal to the test. Then we shall not be weary. And then we shall prevail.”

Kennedy went on to win one of the closest presidential elections in U.S. history, narrowly besting Vice President Richard M. Nixon, becoming the youngest candidate ever elected to the presidency and also the first Catholic president.

Inaugurated

JFK opened his famous inaugural address with these words:

“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. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forbears prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters ago.

The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe–the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.”

He closed with these:

“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.

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.

Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.“

After less than three years in office, Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

July 13, 2020/0 Comments/by Our Lost Founding