Ambassador’s Blog
US Ambassador David Huebner has a blog, and I am finding it a good read.
In is latest post he talks about Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson:
Franklin was a Renaissance man who could not be pigeon-holed. He was an author, editor, business man, inventor, soldier, satirist, philosopher, statesman, politician, post master, and diplomat. He developed the concepts of the modern fire station, ambulance service, and public lending library. He served as America’s first ambassador, and was effective in securing the alliance with France that helped insure the success of our Revolution.
And Jefferson:
Likewise, Jefferson was a brilliant man who made his mark in many different fields – as a farmer, architect, inventor, educator, philosopher, archaeologist, diplomat, and statesman. Jefferson served as America’s first Secretary of State (under George Washington) and as President for two terms. Jefferson was a fierce advocate of the rights of individual citizens and the individual States, and his struggle against Alexander Hamilton and the Federalists over the development of a strong central government still resonates through America today. Jefferson is consistently rated by scholars as among the very greatest of American Presidents.
When President John F. Kennedy hosted dinner for a group of four dozen Nobel Prize winners, he famously commented, “I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House – with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.” (White House Diaries.)
That is one of my favourite quotes.
The class and I spent much of our time reading through the Declaration and discussing the meaning, power, and novelty (at least back then) of its various clauses. We talked about the courage it took – and still takes in various places around the world – to risk being imprisoned and killed for simply speaking your mind and seeking freedom. We spent a good bit of time discussing what it means to say that governments “derive their just powers from the consent of the governed,” or to say that it is the absolute right of the people “to alter or to abolish” governments that become “destructive” of the interests and rights of the people.
The Declaration of Independence is Jefferson’s masterpiece. How it survived a committee so well, is a miracle.
We also examined the structure, history, and current application of the U.S. Constitution – the oldest and shortest written constitution in use on Earth.
I knew it was the oldest on Earth, but not that it is the shortest. It is worth remembering that the US was unique in having a written constitution and no monarchy – a form of Government that is today the most common we have.