Yesterday, after talking about this and that, my mother became very animated over the ambiguity of “President’s Day”. She stated that as a child she and all American school children were taught and celebrated the life/ethics/principles/virtues of George Washington (1732-1799), the Founding Father and first president of the United States and Abraham Lincoln our 16th president.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/gw1.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington
http://www.mountvernon.org/
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Washington%27s_Farewell_Address
Experience teaches us that it is much easier to prevent an enemy from posting themselves than it is to dislodge them after they have got possession.
George Washington
If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.
George Washington
If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known, that we are at all times ready for War.
George Washington
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
“Fondly do we hope — fervently do we pray — that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said “the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether.” With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan — to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.” (Second Inaugural address 3/4/1865)
‘A house divided against itself cannot stand.'(Mark 3:25)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/al16.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln
http://infomotions.com/etexts/gutenberg/dirs/1/4/7/2/14721/14721.htm
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/16_lincoln/index.html
There is much to read, much to learn and much to teach our children from these two great men who helped to guide, unite and inspire our country then and now.
