>>> WELCOME BACK
ONE OF THE MOST SACRED DUTIES OF
PRESIDENTS IN THE MODERN ERA HAS
BEEN AS CONSOLER IN CHIEFTION.
THAT IS A ROLE THAT’S BEEN OF
LESS INTEREST TO PRESIDENT TRUMP
WHO HAS, INSTEAD, DECLARED
HIMSELF A WAR-TIME PRESIDENT
AGAINST AN INVISIBLE ENEMY
HERE’S HISTORIAN JOHN MEACHAM IN
HIS OWN WORDS.
>> THE PRESIDENT, WOODROW
WILSON, ONCE WROTE IS THAT
LIBERTY BOTH AND LAW AND
CONSCIENCE TO BE AS BIG A MAN AS
HE CAN
JOHN F. KENNEDY SAID, MAN CAN BE
AS BIG AS HE WANTS
OR AS SMALL.
WE’RE LIVING WITH AN AMERICAN
PRESIDENT WHO BULLIES, HECTORS
AND PREENS WHO IS MORE
INTERESTED IN SELF JUSTIFICATION
THAN IN THE HEALTH OF THE NATION
AND ITS PEOPLE
IT’S EASY, THEN, TO BE CYNICAL
ABOUT THE WHOLE BUSINESS OF
POLITICS
BUT THIS IS MEMORIAL DAY
THE OCCASION OF WHICH WE
COMMEMORATE THE LIVES OF THOSE
WHO HAVE GIVEN WHAT LINCOLN
CALLED THE LAST FULL MEASURE OF
DEVOTION TO THE COUNTRY.
AND IT’S WORTH REMEMBERING THAT
EVEN IN OUR RECENT PAST WE HAVE
HAD PRESIDENTS WHOA HAVEN’T
CATERED TO OUR WORST INSTINKED,
BUT RATHER CALLED ON OUR BETTER
ANGELS
NONE OF THESE MEN WAS WITHOUT
FAULT.
BUT HOWEVER IMPERFECT THEY WERE,
THEY LEFT US A MORE PERFECT
UNION.
LIKE HIS HERO F.D.R., RONALD
REAGAN, THE FORMER SPORTSCASTER
AND MOVIE STAR, HAD A GIFT FOR
COMMUNICATING FUNDAMENTAL TRUTHS
ABOUT AMERICA.
IN HIS FAREWELL ADDRESS IN
JANUARY 1989, PRESIDENT REAGAN
ADDRESSED HIMSELF TO AMERICAN
POSSIBILITY, EVOKING, AS HE
OFTEN HAD, JOHN WINTHROP’S CITY
UPON A HILL.
>> IN MY MIND IT WAS A TALL,
PROUD CITY BUILT ON ROCK
STRONGER THAN OCEANS, WINDSWEPT,
GOD BLESSED, AND TEEMING WITH
PEOPLE OF ALL KINDS LIVING IN
HARMONY AND PEACE.
AND SHE’S STILL A BEACON, STILL
A MAGNET FOR ALL WHO MUST HAVE
FREEDOM.
FOR ALL THE PILGRIMS FROM ALL
THE LOST PLACES WHO ARE HURTLING
THROUGH THE DARKNESS TOWARD
HOME
>> A FEW SHORT YEARS LATER IN
1995, ANTI-GOVERNMENT EXTREMISTS
BOMBED THE FEDERAL BUILDING IN
OKLAHOMA CITY.
168 PEOPLE WERE KILLED,
INCLUDING 19 CHILDREN.
PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON, WHOSE
PARTY HAD BEEN CRUSHED IN THE
RECENT MIDTERMS, ROSE TO THE
OCCASION
THE FIRST BABY BOOMER PRESIDENT
BECAME AN ACCOMPLISHED CONSOLER
IN CHIEF
>> LET US LET OUR OWN CHILDREN
KNOW THAT WE WILL STAND AGAINST
THE FORCES OF FEAR, WHEN THERE
IS TALK OF HATRED, LET US STAND
UP AND TALK AGAINST IT
WHEN THERE IS TALK OF VIOLENCE,
LET US STAND UP AND TALK AGAINST
IT
B IN THE FACE OF DEATH, LET US
HONOR LIFE
AS ST. PAUL ADMONISHED US, LET
US NOT BE OVERCOME BY EVIL BUT
OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD.
>> READING A NATIONAL RIFLE
ASSOCIATION FUND-RAISING LETTER
THAT REFERRED TO FEDERAL AGENTS
AS JACK BOOTED THUGS, FORMATTER
PRESIDENT GEORGE HERBERT WALKER
BUSH, A LIFE MEMBER, RESIGNED
FROM THE GROUP AFTER OKLAHOMA
CITY
BUSH
>> BUSH WROTE THE NRA, YOUR
BROADSIDE OFFENDS MY DECENCY OF
HONOR AND CONCEPT OF HONOR TO
COUNTRY.
>> THE 41st PRESIDENT ASKED HIS
NAME BE PERMANENTLY REMOVED FROM
THE ROLLS OF THE NRA
AND SIX YEARS AFTER THAT, IN THE
WAKE OF TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11,
2001, GEORGE W. BUSH TOOK PAINS
TO SAY THAT THE NATION’S ENEMY
WAS TERROR, NOT ALL OF ISLAM
WITH CLARITY AND CONVICTION,
BUSH SPOKE OF AMERICA’S
COMMITMENT TO BRINGING JUSTICE
TO THOSE TERRORISTS WHO HAD
MASSACRED THOUSANDS OF
INNOCENTS, SPEAKING IN
WASHINGTON’S NATIONAL CATHEDRAL,
BUSH ALSO DEPLOYED THE
VERNACULAR OF LOVE TO ASSUAGE
UNSPEAKABLE SORROW
>> THIS WORLD HE CREATED IS OF
MORAL DESIGN
GRIEF AND TRAGEDY AND HATRED ARE
ONLY FOR A TIME.
GOODNESS, REMEMBRANCE AND LOVE
HAVE NO END.
AND THE LORD OF LIFE HOLDS ALL
WHO DIE AND ALL WHO MOURN.
>> MOURNING WAS ON PRESIDENT
OBAMA’S MIND WHEN HE FLEW TO
CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA IN
2015
AN ARMED WHITE SUPREMACIST
WIELDING A .45 CALIBER GLOCK
KILLED NINE DURING A DOMESTIC
TERROR ATTACK ON A BIBLE STUDY
GROUP AT THE EMANUEL A.M.E.
CHURCH
>> GOD HAS VISITED GRACE UPON
US
>> AMEN.
>> FOR HE HAS ALLOWED US TO SEE
WHERE WE’VE BEEN BLIND
[ APPLAUSE ]
>> ACTION HAD TO FOLLOW WORDS.
>> PERHAPS THIS TRAGEDY CAUSES
US TO ASK SOME TOUGH QUESTIONS
ABOUT HOW WE CAN PERMIT SO MANY
OF OUR CHILDREN TO LANGUISH IN
POVERTY.
[ APPLAUSE ]
OR ATTEND DILAPIDATED SCHOOLS OR
GROW UP WITHOUT PROSPECTS FOR A
JOB OR A CAREER.
PERHAPS IT CAUSES US TO EXAMINE
WHAT WE’RE DOING TO CAUSE SOME
OF OUR CHILDREN TO HATE. >> SUDDENLY OBAMA BEGAN TO SING.
>> SUDDENLY OBAMA BEGAN TO SING.
♪ AMAZING GRACE, HOW SWEET THE SOUND ♪
SOUND ♪
♪ THAT SAVED A WRETCH
>> MANY AMERICANS ON THIS
MEMORIAL DAY ARE GRIEVING.
MANY MORE YEARN TO SEE A
DIFFERENT DAY.
AND WE NEED A PRESIDENT WHO
LIFTS OUR SOULS.