During the years I traveled with President Gerald R. Ford as a member of his White House staff, the one consistent theme of his remarks was: “just as the beauty of Joseph’s coat was its many colors, so it is with the beauty of America.” And to him, this was not just about the ethnic variety of Americans, but also the differences of ideas and visions that individuals have in this country.
While I realize that this article will be seen by interested readers across the globe, inasmuch as we have just celebrated another American Independence Day on the 4th of July, it is worthwhile to reflect on what has happened in the U.S. in the nearly half century since I first entered public life.
As a young man in the 1950s, I remember being in the American South and drinking from a public fountain for “whites only” with a “coloreds” fountain right next to it – with water feeding both from the same well. Today, this is only a sad memory, but a constant reminder that we still have much to do to change the hearts of those for whom President Ford’s “beauty of America” has not yet taken hold.
As a young American in Berlin in 1962 I was present when President Kennedy declared “If one man is not free, all are not free.” (This was obscured by his famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” line.) For all of my youthful differences with President Kennedy, this one positive fact remains absolute: he pursued a policy designed to free captive nations from the grip of communism – however haltingly and imperfectly. He believed intensely in Walt Rostow’s Stages of Economic Growth, and believed that the final and highest stage of development was American-style democracy and capitalism. Berlin is now free, but much of the world still lives in fear: fear of tyranny, fear of poverty, fear of hunger, fear of failure.
I was in Japan in 1965 when my friend, Jimmy Fukuzaki (an American working for the Department of Defense) relayed his story to me of how, when as a California born boy living in a “Relocation Camp” in Utah during World War II with his parents, he was berated by his grade school teacher for being the “worst little Japanese boy I have ever had.” His proud yet defiant response was: “I’m not Japanese. I’m as American as you are.” Thank goodness, those times are in our past, too, although the lessons of looking at any group of Americans as being lesser patriots based on their heritage should not be forgotten.
I also made my first visit to the DMZ in Korea that same year, and was reminded that freedom comes at a cost. That reminder remains today, and the people of South Korea are still guarded by the presence of American servicemen whom we honor this Independence Day — just as we do all our men and women in uniform who are stationed away from loved ones in far and distant lands still “sailing in harm’s way.”
And, Vietnam. Having served as a Marine Corps firebase commander during that war, I can confidently say that today is a good time to reflect on what our commitments are to other nations, and what price we are willing to pay for circumstances that are not of our making, and which seem to many Americans to not directly reflect our interests or our moral obligations. I have often said that when I went to Vietnam I carried around in my head a list of things for which I was willing to fight and die. After my tour of duty there, when I returned home, I still had a list of things for which I was willing to fight and die – but it was a much smaller list. America still wrestles with where to involve American military personnel, and I suspect that there are no easy answers; but there still needs to be a clearer vision around which we can all unite.
Surrounding those events, I witnessed first hand the Washington, D. C. riots following the Reverend Martin Luther Ling, Jr.’s assassination, “Resurrection City”, federal troops occupying the streets of D. C. at the beginning of the 1970s, and was on the White House lawn the day that the hostages came home from Iran. Through it all, I saw an America that reported it all openly, allowed criticism from all quarters without retribution, and learned from the experiences. While deploring the events that caused each of these tragedies, I’m proud of the growth of tolerance and respect, if not outright affection, that have come about in their aftermath since I first drank from that segregated fountain.
In 1983 I was the Director of Operations for the 1983 Summit of Industrialized Nations (the “Williamsburg Summit”) for President Reagan. It was called the G-7 Summit, and was held in Williamsburg, Virginia. 7,000 people were there to watch seven leaders across a table talk about the economic health of the world. At its conclusion, and after the other visiting leaders had departed, President Reagan invited a few of us to the colonial house that was his residence during the Summit.
It was a private moment with the President, so nothing said was for the world press – just Ronald Reagan being himself. After the pleasantries, he asked if anyone had any questions they wanted to ask. After an awkward pause where everyone was hesitating, I asked him: “Mr. President, what is your most important impression from what you just went through?”
He said: “Well Larry, I just realized as I sat at that table today that this is Memorial Day weekend; and here on one side were the leaders of Canada, France and Great Britain. And, on the other were the leaders of Germany, Italy and Japan. I thought to myself, it was just a few short years ago that we were all at war against each other.” And, here he paused for a moment. Then he resumed, “and then I said to myself, oh Russia, why can’t you just join the family?”
In my adult lifetime spanning the presidencies from John F. Kennedy to now, the primary issue both at home and abroad facing the President of the United States has been expanding freedom. I say this knowing that the complexities of dealing with foreign governments and cultures, international institutions of all kinds, and conflicting impulses of the American electorate cannot be so simply stated. Liberty is messy. It is unpredictable. It can sometimes turn against us in unanticipated ways. The cost is often high; higher that we could have imagined. Yet, America is still – for all its faults – the best hope of humankind to find solutions for the world’s deep-seated ills.
Presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan were freedom presidents. For good or ill, they truly believe(d) that freedom is the issue in the world, and set out to remake the world in the image of the simple declaration that “WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” But it goes further: — “That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men.” They took liberty seriously.
Machiavelli taught us that there are two kinds of leaders: lions and foxes. Lions are those great leaders who ride through the battlefield of their world recreating it in their image – and leaving rubble all along their path. Foxes are those clever leaders who follow after them trying to put the new world together again and bring order out of chaos.
I cannot judge the greatness of the lions or the cleverness of the foxes. Popularity is easily gauged; greatness is not. But what is apparent is that lions are created out of great events, which propel the people to demand great actions: the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the end of the Cold War and collapse of Communism, and 9/11. President Reagan was a lion in a world of foxes; a creation not just of great events, but of great ideals. President Kennedy did not serve long enough for us to make a similar judgment; but the image he created still lives in the hearts of millions around the world. And, by the millions and over the decades young men and women have answered President Kennedy’s call issued at his inauguration:
And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.
My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.
Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you.
With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.
Far too many have given their lives in freedom’s cause; yet, it is the only way for freedom to survive the onslaught of tyranny and terror we face daily across the globe. America’s Founding Fathers covenanted one with another a Declaration of Independence “with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our Fortunes, & our sacred Honor.”
In just my short lifetime we have witnessed this same commitment by ordinary Americans doing extraordinary things that have changed America for the better.
Happy Fourth of July.
