“Which founders have these presidents cited - and why? What did, say, President [Ronald] Reagan's view of George Washington, or President [Bill] Clinton's view of Thomas Jefferson, tell us about their view of America and where they intended to lead the country?In many cases, it told us a lot about the president.” CountryAmericaPresidentViewsCasesBillsClintonFoundersPresident Bill ClintonPresident Ronald Reagan Author:Paul Kengor
“The presidents varied in the degree to which they cited the founders. Some, like JFK, LBJ, [Richard] Nixon, and [Bill] Clinton, cited them somewhat frequently, in the range of 100 to 200 times, though, regrettably, not in a thematic or notably profound or even interesting way. Others, like Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, cited them rarely.” WayPresidentInterestingDegreesBillsProfoundClintonRangeFoundersJimmyCarterInteresting WaysThematicLbjGerald Ford Author:Paul Kengor
“[Gerald] Ford and [Jimmy] Carter, in fact, were huge disappointments to me. Think about this: They were the presidents around the time of America's historic bicentennial, and yet rarely quoted the founders.” ThinkingFactsAmericaPresidentHugeDisappointmentFoundersHistoricJimmyCarterGerald Ford Author:Paul Kengor
“Frankly, neither president [Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter] was an inspiring figure; so, maybe their lack of inspiration by the founders shouldn't surprise us.” InspirationPresidentFiguresSurpriseFoundersJimmyCarterGerald Ford Author:Paul Kengor
“There's the unique case of Ronald Reagan, who cited [founders] some 850 times, and in a way that was absolutely fundamental to understanding Reagan's vision for America.” WayAmericaUnderstandingVisionCasesUniqueFundamentalsFounders Author:Paul Kengor
“Ronald Reagan [ cite the founders] on behalf of emphasizing the faith of our founders, of limited government, of the uniqueness and exceptionalism of America, of a nation with a people facing another historic challenge beyond the American Revolution, and in contrasting the system of the United States with the system of the USSR.” PeopleStatesGovernmentAmericaNationsChallengesUnitedUnited StatesRevolutionFoundersUniquenessBehalfHistoricAmerican RevolutionLimited GovernmentCitingUssrExceptionalism Author:Paul Kengor
“In [Ronald] Reagan's view, the American Founders had anchored their experiment in Judeo-Christian beliefs; the Bolsheviks deliberately established an antithetical model. Those founders of communism divorced their "faith" from God.” ChristianBeliefViewsModelsExperimentsCommunismFoundersDivorcedBolsheviks Author:Paul Kengor
“Speaking of [Ronald] Reagan on the faith of the founders, he was particularly fond of George Washington, who he cited nearly 200 times, and almost twice as much as all the presidents since [John F.]Kennedy combined.” PresidentFounders Author:Paul Kengor
“Maybe the most interesting find in my research is that it is clear that Ronald Reagan, among all modern presidents, plainly rediscovered the founders.” PresidentInterestingClearModernResearchFoundersMost Interesting Author:Paul Kengor
“I was a child or didn't live through those presidents prior to [Ronald] Reagan, and thus didn't realize how little attention they had paid to the founders.” ChildrenLittlesPresidentRealizingAttentionPaidFounders Author:Paul Kengor
“I was disappointed in how [Bill] Clinton, like [Jimmy] Carter, used the founders to argue for huge expansions in federal power, clearly beyond what the founders could have ever conceived.” UsedHugeBillsClintonArguingDisappointedFoundersExpansionJimmyCarter Author:Paul Kengor
“A surprise to others, but not to me, since I've watched this closely for eight years now, is how George W. Bush has internalized the founders' belief that all human beings are endowed by their Creator with a certain inherent yearning for freedom. In turn, Bush has applied this to his vision for the Middle East, believing that a democratic transformation in that region is possible, given that inherent desire for liberty within all hearts, including the hearts of Arab Muslims. People disagree with that, which is fine, but that's the Bush vision.” PeopleYearsBelieveHumansHeartDesireCertainTurnsBeliefGivenHuman BeingsLibertyVisionMiddleFineTransformationDemocraticSurpriseIncludingCreatorEightEastRegionsDisagreeYearningMiddle EastInherentFounders Author:Paul Kengor
“I noticed some time ago that neither of the candidates are quoting the founders. If they are, they're doing it so rarely that I haven't noticed, or enough to be negligible. Certainly, neither is invoking the image of [George] Washington at Valley Forge or the Shining City Upon a Hill. In addition to this being true for John McCain and Barack Obama, it was true for Hillary Clinton as well.” IfsWellsEnoughCitiesHavensShiningClintonBeing TrueBarackHillsCandidatesValleysFoundersMccainQuotingValley Forge Author:Paul Kengor
“[Barack] Obama isn't pointing to anyone, and certainly doesn't like it when others note (correctly) that his influences were the likes of Saul Alinsky, the Chicagoan and modern founder of community organizing, or Frank Marshall Davis, the communist journalist and agitator from Chicago who mentored Obama in Hawaii in the latter 1970s, and who Obama warmly acknowledges in his memoirs.” CommunityInfluenceModernNotesLikesMemoirBarackJournalistAcknowledgeLatterCommunistChicagoFrankFoundersHawaiiPointingCommunity Organizing Author:Paul Kengor
“In part, it's almost surely a failure of modern education, whether K through 12 or higher education, or really both. Barack Obama went to Ivy League institutions like Columbia, which are reputed to be among America's top colleges. And yet, this very recent product of those American institutions is not publicly articulating an appreciation of the American founding or the founders and their vision for America.” AmericaVisionModernCollegeProductsHigherInstitutionsAppreciationBarackLeagueFoundersFoundingIvyHigher EducationColumbiaIvy LeagueArticulatingModern Education Author:Paul Kengor
“Many of these failures can be laid at the feet of the awful state of American higher education, and especially the way in which our secular universities have divorced their instruction from timeless truths like faith and freedom. Many of the professors at these places plainly don't respect the founders and, in particular, the religious foundation of the founders.” WayStatesReligiousFeetParticularHigherFoundationUniversityAwfulProfessorsInstructionFoundersSecularTimelessDivorcedHigher Education Author:Paul Kengor
