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America's Four Greatest Presidents America’s four greatest presidents are George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. GEORGE WASHINGTON: The principles of individual freedom articulated in the Declaration of Independence were given a full theoretical foundation with the writing of the Constitution of the United States. But the United States of America would have just been another noble experiment if those principles hadn’t found the only man great enough to forge them into a political reality: George Washington. Washington is the greatest man in world history, and for Americans the indispensable man without whom there would be no United States today. He is the colossus who forged the genius of Jefferson, Madison and Hamilton into the sword of freedom that has become the United States of America. It was said by many of his contemporaries that there was a no more magnificent sight than the six-foot-four Washington entering a scene on horseback, and that Washington was aware of that and knew precisely when to do it for the greatest effect. However he did it, without his strength, there probably wouldn’t have been a President Adams and most assuredly wouldn’t have been a President Jefferson. America would have dissolved into quibbling, power-grabbing and pettiness, as did France after her much less successful revolution. But Washington’s stature only improves with time, as each year brings further evidence of his greatness. I refer you to a recent book called, “The Imperfect God—George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America,” by Henry Wiencek. Wiencek discovers a George Washington who was well aware of his place in history and determined not only to establish this nation as the land of freedom, but to show he understood the major flaw embedded in its otherwise magnificent Constitution. The evolution of Washington’s understanding that America’s great contradiction was slavery can be seen in his heroic last gesture: the freeing of his slaves. He carefully planned this and knew that its consequences would turn relatives against him upon his death, and his countrymen against him over the course of history. When his will became known, he was disowned and vilified by members of his own family, a fate he knew he would suffer, and one which must have been horrible to contemplate for a man who prized his general reputation and the ties to his wife’s more noble family so highly. But he knew that America’s establishment of individual rights and its toleration of slavery was the major dichotomy that his young country would have to resolve, and he wanted it known for all time on what side of this issue America’s greatest citizen stood. ABRAHAM LINCOLN: The greatness of Abraham Lincoln has always been hardest for me to accept. Looking at the carnage that was the American Civil War, I have always felt that there must have been a better way. However, I am beginning to realize that slavery, the great contradiction allowed to exist at the founding of the American republic, couldn’t be solved without an enormous price being paid. It fell upon someone of Lincoln’s courage to pay it. There was no other way. No matter how great an idea is, it can’t survive if it fails to be consistently followed. America’s original principles logically lead to the expansion of the rights of its citizens. For all his many flaws, Lincoln was determined to end slavery, and he dedicated everything, even his life, to that victory. It doesn’t matter that he didn’t see emancipation as his goal until he was in the midst of the war. He came to see it. George Bush didn’t see world democratization as his goal fully until his second term. Certainly America has not seen anyone even close to Lincoln’s poetic eloquence in the world of politics. The words of the unmatchable Gettysburg Address and his second inaugural address just days before his assassination summed up the bitter struggle and the profound consequences of the major conflicts of that era, and they will live forever. Before the Civil War, people spoke of the “the united states are”; after the Civil War, the expression was “the United States is.” We became “one nation, indivisible” and the undisputed exemplar of liberty throughout the world. Following the Civil War and building on the logic Lincoln championed when he freed the slaves, the concept of freedom was broadened to include women and those without property, and Americans are to this day redefining and broadening this concept to be more and more inclusive of all our citizens. This is certainly happening imperfectly, but the core of this expansion is the great vision and positive accomplishment of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was the father of the expansion of rights to all segments of society in America. And America would not be the beacon it is if we hadn’t corrected our limitations on liberty experienced by a majority of our citizens. It was Lincoln who took Jefferson’s words, "All men are created equal; that they are endowed …with certain unalienable rights…” and asked by what logic we excluded “negroes” from “men.” After this, by the same logic, how can we exclude “woman” from the universal concept meant by the word “men” in the Declaration? How can you exclude any subset of people? You can say that it is logical to take away the rights of a man who violates another man’s rights, but how can you say all people have rights except those who choose voluntarily to sleep with their own gender? Lincoln’s bloody surgery on the Constitution is leading to an ongoing, tortured healing of the whole body politic. RONALD REAGAN: Most people think of Franklin Delano Roosevelt as the great defender of America’s freedom from foreign tyranny. I, however, think history will be less kind to him. I believe that the great defender of America’s freedom in Word War II was Winston Churchill, and Roosevelt was not the pivotal force that led to Hitler’s demise. Roosevelt also thoroughly misunderstood the power of free markets. We have spent many years now, and will spend much of this next century, undoing the harm he and others caused the economy. The man who had the vision to bring tyranny to its knees in the twentieth century was Ronald Reagan. He had to fight the entire world, at home and abroad, to do it. Most everyone loves Ronald Reagan now, but he was the devil incarnate to American liberals and the world community when he was President. The first thing Reagan did was to define tyranny (the “evil empire”); he then defined the opposition (free America). Reagan had learned the lessons of WWII. He knew that victory over tyranny is achieved by telling the truth about the nature of the enemy, and by confronting it with an impenetrable military power. But he knew much more than that about the nature of freedom. He knew that political freedom is tied to economic freedom. He spent his first term building up America’s military power and economy, and until the Soviet Union under Gorbachev realized that there was no way it could compete. When Ronald Reagan demonstrated to the world the moral and practical superiority of America over Russia, the world rushed to democracy and communism landed on “the ash heap of history” where it belonged. America was left as the only world superpower. Those of us who followed Reagan before he was elected president can see that he always had a clear vision of the power of freedom and the path he would take if he were elected. Others are discovering this fact through the release of his papers since his presidency. GEORGE W. BUSH The only thing left after the collapse of communism to establish democracy worldwide was to declare victory, but Bush the First and Clinton were too busy with details and distractions to notice. George W. Bush took one term to overcome this timidity, but his second inaugural address, which rivals the second inaugurals of Washington and Lincoln, outlines the necessary path to worldwide freedom. It is also his goal to continue the economic revolution started by Ronald Reagan. This effort will conquer the “soft” economic tyranny of the welfare state, established in the 20th century by the “progressive” movement. It is, although imperfect, a war against regulation and economic controls. Bush’s main definition of this goal is the Ownership Society, and its basic aim is towards a more free economy with people having greater control over their own resources. George W. Bush is starting the 21st century dismantling of the 20th century welfare state. I know some will scream at his Medicare prescription drugs benefit as proof he isn’t doing this, but politics is the art of the possible, and he felt that the 700 billion price tag would be half of the democratic alternative. Whether he was right or not, after Social Security reform loom the much worse problems of real tax reform and Medicare. The dismantling of the welfare state will not be easy. Bush is a man who understands the power of freedom, both politically and economically. Whereas most men, even Presidents, get lost in the detail of the job (Jimmy Carter worried about who was scheduled to use the White House tennis courts), he is concentrating on what can change the world for the better. We have the boldest man with the broadest vision sitting in the White House that I have seen in my lifetime- maybe since that office was occupied by the first man named George. He wants to expand freedom in America and around the world, as did Washington, Lincoln and Reagan. America’s foreign policy is now targeted on the spread of democracy worldwide. It is a natural progression following the defeat of the great tyrannies of the twentieth century. Often in the last century America felt compelled, for reasons good and bad, to align herself with minor tyrants to help defeat major tyrants. However, with the last powerful enemy of freedom vanquished by his hero, Ronald Reagan, Bush 43 has picked up the banner of individual liberty first raised by George Washington, and finally made America’s mission consistent throughout the world. His speeches since 9/11, although perhaps lacking Lincoln's grandeur, are the equal of his great predecessors. He has changed the entire political discussion around the globe. Everyone, everywhere is talking about democracy. He and his new Secretary of State are regularly threatening tyrants, supporting freedom fighters, and encouraging those in between to work towards democracy. At last, America’s worldwide political goals are crystal clear. The tragedy of 9/11 dictates a much more interventionist approach to what is going on in all corners of the world. Democracy is now a necessity. Because of the vision of these four presidents, their understanding of freedom and their consistent battle for it against immense odds, the world stands on the brink of a glorious period of peace and prosperity. This peace will not be won easily, but prosperity is already becoming a world reality. The next great president will be a man or woman who will need to help heal the partisan rift between the Republicans and Democrats and lead us from a welfare state to a more libertarian state. In a future article, I would like to explore what the agenda of this man or women should be, and where we may find him or her in today’s political make-up. Of one thing I am sure. He or she will call us to battle under the banner of freedom. That is the essence of America, and that is her destiny.
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