Chloe Oliver

Chloe Oliver of Foxworth writes a community column for the Marion County Informer. Her column appears every Wednesday.

By Chloe Oliver

On Sunday, July 4, I gravitated toward patriotic thoughts and feelings of thankfulness for the country in which we live. My thoughts turned toward the many great leaders of the past to whom we owe a debt of gratitude.

Such a list would certainly include the names of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Douglas McArthur and George Patton. Some textbooks now seek to cast aspersions on the character of these men and belittle their and other past leader’s accomplishments. The fact remains that without such leaders, we might have enjoyed fish and chips and kidney pie this past Sunday. We each might have started some  other sort of holiday with sauerkraut and bratwurst and concluded the day with a Nazi salute.

When I speak of leaders, I am not merely referring to one who is elected. There is more to leadership and service to country than being elected to office. Today, many elected to office want no more than prestige and power. They place more value in power groups’ opinions, re-election, and personal preferences than in honor and duty to country and citizens. By contrast, consider the words of George Washington when urging his countrymen to be anxiously engaged in the cause of the Revolution: “It is a duty we owe our country; a claim which posterity has upon us.” Also remember, that before Washington was a great leader, hero, and president, he was, from the British point of view, a notorious rebel and insurrectionist. If Washington and his fellow Patriots had failed instead of succeeded, he and they would have been hanged from the nearest tree. His name would be remembered in the annals of British history as a traitor.

Neither should political prowess be confused with valor or true understanding of the economic distress that has descended upon many Americans. Reflect upon the leadership of one such as FDR. Although raised with the advantages of wealth, he was keenly aware of the plight of the average citizen. He seemed to believe that wealth came with responsibility toward those less fortunate. He knew that the war abroad could not be won without first conquering the problems at home. He instituted visionary programs and policies for relief and victory. He led-and he led with a disability. The simple act of standing up with his heavy leg braces was an ordeal. Ponder also, what would have happened to this country if he had not been successful.

As I cast my eyes to the current political arena, I see a pool of political pygmies. Most seem phlegmatic instead of visionary. I yearn for noble and great leaders. Just because true leadership is not often witnessed today, it does not mean that it cannot robustly exist again. Hopefully, those in politics will not only honor those who have led the way, but learn from them as well.

Regardless of the political party or politician in power, we should still concur that our privileges outweigh our privations. We are blessed. I give thanks to God for the country in which we live and the great leaders on whose coattails we exist. We should not take our privileges and comforts for granted or become complacent.

“These are the times that try men’s souls,” wrote Thomas Paine as he marched in the winter snow with George Washington. The following words read by Washington to his troops ring as relevant and true now as then: “The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in crisis, shrink from the service of their country;but he that stands now, deserves the thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap,we esteem too lightly; it is the dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated.” (Thomas Paine)