In a rare opportunity, I was able to interview some past Presidents about things going on today that were concerns in their day as well. The interviews include George Washington, Dwight Eisenhower, Andrew Jackson, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy. What an interesting group of leaders for me to have the privilege of interviewing.
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George Washington's Prayer at Valley Forge
George Washington:
"Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples' liberty's teeth."
Naturally, one of the first and most important interviews was with George Washington, our First President after the Constitution was ratified. This man had one of the most amazing perspectives that not only was brilliant for his day but ours. I met him outside a beautiful building under the shade of an old elm tree that had a plaque on it that said,"The Tree of Liberty." On another sign nearby, were the words, "The Sons Of Liberty Met Here."
Author: President Washington. Good morning and thank you for granting me this interview.
Pres. Washington: It is my honor to be interviewed by someone interested in the history of our nation.
Author: Thank you, Mr. President. As I understand it, you had a great passion for the nation but, also for the people and were very concerned that what you had helped create would always be at risk. What exactly concerned you?
President Washington: I spoke to the nation at the time of my leaving office. I saw the risks and tried to warn the people. I said, to the people in 1796,
The unity of government which constitutes you one people is also now dear to you. It is justly so, for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquility at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very liberty which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee that, from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed.
The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts of common dangers, sufferings, and successes.
Author: I can see you were very concerned and from where I am in the future, see those concerns justified. But, can you be more specific about what this "covert" and "insidious" force might be?
Pres. Washington:
In contemplating the causes which may disturb our Union, it occurs as matter of serious concern that any ground should have been furnished for characterizing parties by geographical discriminations, Northern and Southern, Atlantic and Western; whence designing men may endeavor to excite a belief that there is a real difference of local interests and views. One of the expedients of party to acquire influence within particular districts is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts. You cannot shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heartburnings which spring from these misrepresentations.
Author: Wait a minute. Are you saying allegiance to political parties can be dangerous to the nation? Please, elaborate on that.
Pres. Washington:
They tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal affection. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction,
They are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.
The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty. rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels and modified by mutual interests.
Author: That is amazing and frightening! You sure have given me something to think about. I had never thought of party affiliation as being such a risk to the long term health of the nation. Yet, in hindsight from my view here in 2010, I can see where you are, of course 100% correct. We have let party affiliation often blind us to the real needs of this nation's long term health. We have placed short term benefits at a high priority only to create a long term situation where we may lose the ability to even fund short term needs.
Now, let's move to another topic that I am concerned about and that is our military and commercial involvement in other nations. When you were President, what was your advice to the young nation you were President of?
Pres. Washington:
The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith.
It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary and would be unwise to extend them.
Taking care always to keep ourselves by suitable establishments on a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies.
Author: Well, I can see from a military and commercial standpoint that it would be best to have that type of relationship but, do you have more to say on trade with other nations?
Pres. Washington:
Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand; neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or preferences; consulting the natural course of things; diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams of commerce, but forcing nothing; establishing (with powers so disposed, in order to give trade a stable course, to define the rights of our merchants, and to enable the government to support them) conventional rules of intercourse, the best that present circumstances and mutual opinion will permit, but temporary, and liable.
President George Washington: Farewell Address 1796
Author: President Washington, I want to thank you so much for your time and your wisdom in how the nation should view what is best for the nation's long term health. I have many more questions but, I would like to have them answered by Presidents that came after you.
President Washington: Well, let me escort you to the "Hall of Past Presidents" were we often meet to discuss the things we saw during our time as President. Here, just come this way.
Author: This is truly a magnificent hall. Is that President Eisenhower?
Pres. Washington: Yes it is. President Eisenhower. This is a friend, Mr. Jan Burr, from the future, 2010, to be precise, and he and I have just finished an interview and he has some more questions and may be you can help him out.
Author's note:
The words of the Presidents in quotes are their actual words from the site listed below their comments. I have placed some of their comments in bold as I believe they focus on some key points they are making. I have written this as I did, to show how little has really changed. Human nature is such that the people of nations, seem to keep making the same mistakes they have made before or that other nations have made before. Some of our greatest leaders saw these reoccurring mistakes and attempted to remedy them only to see future generations "overrule" their wisdom and make the mistakes anyway.
What I learned from the Interview
What struck me most about this interview with President Washington was how the things he described about party affiliation were exactly what I am seeing to day. In my writings on various blogs, the hatred between members of the two major parties is mind boggling. There is often no rational reason for the hatred and yet, it is there. No matter what the policy or the differences the two parties have, the other party is always wrong.
Currently, the Independent voters out number each party. We recently saw in Massachusetts, the independents elect a Republican to replace Sen. Kennedy. In what was thought to be a solid "blue" state, the independents showed they were really the most powerful voting block in the state.
What I see is a growing number of people that are tired of the things President Washington warned about concerning party affiliation. We see the blocking of legislation, the use of pork, political appointments and moving bills through committee to get votes for a bill that couldn't normally pass on its own merit. We hear about the party leaders meeting with each other to make "deals" to get legislation passed by adding these things, I just mentioned, to the legislation. Often, both parties may want the bill but, many legislators know that by withholding their votes on high priority legislation, they can get things they otherwise couldn't. After a bi-party meeting, the leaders then spread out to "win" the needed votes.
I am afraid the concerns of President Washington were borne out long before this Congress met. As soon as we had parties in the U.S., we saw the problems rise that he warned of. The problems grew until now, we often have thousand page bills that are filled with things that never should have been in the legislation and that do long term harm to the nation, but, they are added to "buy" votes.
Regarding the military. Recently, a video surfaced where Bin Laden (regarded as the mastermind behind 9-11) said his goal was to bankrupt the U.S. What is interesting is that Afghanistan and Russia's involvement there is one of the reasons Russia went bankrupt.
I have read we have troops in well over 100 nations. While many are tiny, for embassy operations, etc., others are "entanglements" that came from us trying to be the world's policeman and iron out differences in each nation we had some kind of economic interest in or that the "allied nations" had an interest in. The budget for defense and related spending is projected to be 35% of the 2011 budget's tax revenues.
This is why, foreign entanglements, like President Washington warned about, can be so damaging to a nation's growth and stability in the long run. We simply can't afford to be the world's policeman any more. The Government Accounting Office reported to Congress that we owe more as a nation than we own. But, as you will see in my next interview with President Eisenhower, cutting defense spending is easier said than done.
Jan Paul Burr
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