A time to honor our two greatest leaders

TOM HARMAN

The official description of Presidents Day says it’s a holiday to

honor all who have served as this nation’s chief executive, but I

hope you’ll forgive me if I take a less generic approach and focus on

the contributions of our two greatest leaders -- George Washington

and Abraham Lincoln.

Washington and Lincoln, who both had birthdays in February, are

why we celebrate Presidents Day. These two presidents had perhaps the

greatest impact in the shaping of our democracy.

We are all familiar with the stories we learned in our childhood

of George Washington’s bravery in guiding the Colonial army to

victory in our war for independence. And we recall the advice which

the “father of our country” imparted in his Farewell Address:

“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.”

In his address, Washington also offered some advice which my

colleagues in the Legislature ought to remember as we work on the

state budget: avoid the accumulation of debt by “shunning occasions

of expense.”

President Abraham Lincoln is another of our most respected

presidents, rightly revered as the man who challenged the scourge of

slavery head on, and defeated it.

I consider it high praise when someone refers to my Republican

Party as the “party of Lincoln,” but I know that the importance of

our 16th president spreads far beyond partisan boundaries. We live in

the “nation of Lincoln,” and it is a more just, noble country thanks

to the leadership of this great man.

The opening line of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is etched in the

minds of all Americans: “Four score and seven years ago our fathers

brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty,

and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”

Indeed, all men are created equal -- but not all presidents have

had an equal impact on this country. The sheer importance of the

lives and legacies of Washington and Lincoln is all too often lost

amid the celebration of a generic, three-day weekend.

Rather than using Presidents Day as just another holiday, I hope

you’ll join me in using it to teach our children more about these

great leaders.

To fully pass down the importance of Washington and Lincoln to the

next generation, we must strive to live by the principles which

guided them. Lincoln’s declaration of equality was not just a line in

a speech, but a statement to live by. Washington’s Farewell Address

acknowledgment that morality is an “indispensable support” of a

country’s political prosperity is another truth that must be lived as

well as spoken.

* TOM HARMAN represents the 67th Assembly District and lives in

Huntington Beach. To contri- bute to “Sounding Off” e-mail us at

[email protected] or fax us at (714) 966-4667.