Saturday, October 25, 2008

TLR: History and Leadership, the History Project

The DVD set for the John Adams mini-series contained a story about the author, David McCullough: "Painting with Words."

At one point he said he has often been asked what event in history he wished he could have witnessed personally. McCullough said that when Ralph Waldo Emerson graduated from Harvard, he visited President John Adams in the last year of his life, 1825.

Emerson recorded President John Adams saying this:
"I would to God there were more ambition in the country. By that I mean ambition of the laudable kind, to excel."

I believe this describes the ambition expressed in the Texas Ascendancy Campaign, the ambition expressed when I urge Plano so send one of its own to the White House, the ambition to strive for greatness for the sake of America and the sake of all Americans.

The History Project

In his farewell address to the nation, Ronald Reagan said, "... freedom is special and rare. It's fragile; it needs protection. So, we've got to teach history based not on what's in fashion but what's important..."

The history of our American Revolution, the history of great nations and great men, and the history of freedom must warm the blood and light the way for the ambitious leadership that will carry us to prosperity in this next century.

We must do a better job of teaching history in our schools, history based not on what's in fashion, but what's important.

Robert Canright

Remember, TLR = the Texas Leadership Revolution

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