Preserving Our Nation

I have written quite a few posts lately that are critical of this President and his administration. I have written these posts because as a working class American I feel our nation is fundamentally on the wrong track and is in great danger of a permanent downturn that we may not ever recover from. In other moments in our nation's history where our nation was in peril, we had a leader that was not afraid to take on the "fight" to preserve this great nation and it's people. It was this "fighting" spirit in these past leaders that allow us to still exist today as a nation. Who were some of these leaders? Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Lyndon Baines Johnson to name a few.

These Presidents were good at recognizing the peril faced and how best to triumph through these perils. They also recognized one single important thing, in order to move the nation forward to a strong and prosperous path, you will have to "fight" those agents who would be taking the nation to its peril.

Repeatedly, the President's I have referenced, did exactly that many times over. President Abraham Lincoln was an outspoken opponent of the expansion of slavery in the United States. As President he sought to reunify the nation after the secession of eleven states. He used unprecedented war powers, including the arrest and detention of thousands, without trial, of thousands of suspected secessionists. He issued his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, and promoted the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, abolishing slavery.

As the leader of the moderate faction of the Republican Party, he was under constant attack from all sides. Lincoln fought back with patronage, by pitting his opponents against each other, and by appealing to the American people with his powers of oratory. For example, his Gettysburg Address in 1863, which became the most quoted speech by an American President, he emphasized America's dedication to the principles of nationalism, equal rights, liberty, and democracy.

When Franklin Delano Roosevelt became President in 1933, the United States was as the nadir of the worst depression of its history. About twenty-five percent of Americans were unemployed. Two million were homeless. Industrial production had fallen by more than half. At the time of his inauguration, 32 of the 48 states has closed all of its banks. Roosevelt immediately went to "battle" taking on the entities (bankers, financiers, and their greed) that caused the destruction of the United States during his inaugural address. He immediately recognized the urgency of the plight of America.

Historians categorized Roosevelt's programs as "relief, recovery, reform." Relief was urgently need by tens of millions of unemployed Americans. Recovery meant boosting the economy back to normal. Reform long-term fixes of what caused the problems, especially with the financial and banking systems. Roosevelt's series of radios talks, fireside chats, presented his proposals directly to the American public.

Lyndon Baines Johnson took office after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. He overcame the longest filibuster in history, overcame southern resistance and convinced Congress to pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which outlawed most forms of racial segregation, and the Voting Rights Act, which outlawed discrimination in voting. Johnson believed that it was morally wrong to discriminate. This belief led Johnson to "fight" for what he believed to be the right thing to do. By doing this, making his strong case for this belief to this nation and to the United States Congress, making some deals with a few Congressmen to sway some votes, he was able to succeed.

Johnson also made his case about the need to fight and conquer poverty in America, thus creating a program that has been called the Great Society. This program gave aid to education, Medicare, Medicaid, urban renewal, beautification, conservation, development of depressed regions, a wide-scale "fight" against poverty, control and prevention of crime, and an attack on disease. With Johnson's leadership, Congress enacted many of his recommendations.

President Obama is at a similar crossroads for the preservation of this nation and its people. If he does not do what others before him which is to recognize the problems, lead, and overcome the opposition who are taking this nation to its peril, this nation will be be potentially put on a downward path of which it may not be able to reverse. Fight President Obama, that is what we elected you to do!