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Observing Presidents’ Day in the midst of a presidential primaries

By Bill Ellis

Special to ASSIST News Service

If there is anything you have ever wanted, be sure to let a primary presidential candidate know what it is and it will be promised. Some candidates exude enough hot air to melt a polar icecap.

When I was a college freshman my English teacher, Mary Cathryne Park, a charming and delightful young Ph.D., said, “You are too serious in your writing. Turn your imagination loose and write things that are far-fetched and implausible.”

If I had followed her advice, I could be writing ridiculous speeches for those who would like to be president. We all know, however, that there is more to being a good president than the ability to deliver a stem-winder of a speech.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, wrote: “Speech is power: speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel.” Effective speech must be believable. February is the month we observe Presidents’ Day and what they said.

George Washington, born February 22, 1732, and our nation’s first president, was a man of profound wisdom and deep faith in Almighty God. He said, “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.” To him, the Bible was to be read and obeyed.

Scholarly biographers quote him saying, “It is impossible to account for the creation of the universe, without the agency of a Supreme Being. It is impossible to govern the universe without the aid of a Supreme Being. It is impossible to reason without arriving at a Supreme Being.” I wonder if he would be permitted to make those statements today in the public school classrooms that for many years has had his picture on display.

President Abraham Lincoln, our 16th President, was born on February 12, 1809. He led the nation during its most dreadful and costly war, the Civil War, April 12, 1861 - April 9, 1865. His faith in God sustained him during those difficult days of our national life.

During the Civil War, President Lincoln overheard someone remark that he hoped “the Lord was on the Union’s side.” Lincoln gave a straightforward reply: “I am not at all concerned about that, for I know that the Lord is always on the side of the right. But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord’s side.”

Lincoln was a man of unwavering faith in Almighty God and His Son, Jesus Christ.

President Ronald Wilson Reagan, born February 6, 1911, died on June 5, 2004. He was the only one of these three Presidents, born in February, that I had the privilege of seeing and hearing in person. I enjoyed that privilege many times.

In 1980 he spoke words that prophetically speak to our day when he said, “The time has come to turn to God and reassert our trust in Him for the healing of America . . . our country is in need of and ready for a spiritual renewal . . .”

These words from our Presidents come from America’s God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations. A magnificent book by brilliant historian, William J. Federer.

Do any of our present candidates even come close to being another Reagan, Lincoln or Washington? Not one comes close now, but once they are tried in the crucible of presidential experience it will be left to the historians to write that assessment.

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[02/15/2008]

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