The United States of America is an exceptional country. We at the BEAUTY OF POLITICS believe in American exceptionalism. The US is unique in our mission to spread liberty and democracy. The US is unique in our emergence from a revolution against a monarch. The US is unique as we were developed an American ideology based on liberty. The US is unique in our appreciation of free markets. The US is unique in our belief in the American Dream – that opportunity for all Americans to achieve success. The US has a special destiny and a unique system of governance based on the power resting in the individual, not on government power, but empowering citizens to self-govern. The BEAUTY OF POLITICS discusses issues that impact Americans, with a respect for the beauty of our political system and the power vested in the people. In 1787 when leaving Independence Hall on the final day of deliberation on the US Constitution, Benjamin Franklin was reportedly asked:

“Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy?”

He responded:

“A Republic, if you can keep it.”

To keep our political system viable, citizens must be informed and engaged. Andrew Jackson said in his farewell address in 1837:

“But you must remember, my fellow-citizens, that eternal vigilance by the people is the price of liberty, and that you must pay the price if you wish to secure the blessing. It behooves you, therefore, to be watchful in your States as well as in the Federal Government.”
The BEAUTY OF POLITICS focuses on helping citizens in our eternal vigilance. Ronald Reagan said:
“There is no question that we have failed to live up to the dreams of the founding fathers many times and in many places. Sometimes we do better than others. But all in all, the one thing we must be on guard against is thinking that because of this, the system has failed. The system has not failed. Some human beings have failed the system.”
President Reagan often referred to America as that shining city on the hill, particularly in his 1984 acceptance of the Republican Party nomination and in his January 11, 1989, farewell speech to the nation:
“…I’ve spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don’t know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That’s how I saw it and see it still.”

We hope you will join us on BEAUTY OF POLITICS as we explore our political system, and vigilantly work to protect what our Founding Fathers fought to provide us.