| “ | I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious
harbors and her ample rivers - and it was not there . . . in her
fertile fields and boundless forests
and it was not there . . . in her rich mines and her vast world commerce
- and it was not there . . . in her democratic Congress and her
matchless Constitution - and it was not there. Not until I went into
the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness
did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great
because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will
cease to be great.
| ” |
The first time I became aware of this passage was in the run-up to a C-Span series, "The Alexis de Tocqueville Tour Exploring Democracy in America,"
back in 1997, or so. Brian Lamb spent several mornings in
discussions with various historians about de Tocqueville. In
fact, it may be those conversations that are presented here.
I was an active poster on Free Republic
at the time, and quoted Lamb's quote of Alexis de Tocqueville
from memory. I wanted to source it, but was unable to find it
anywhere. Drove me nuts. I owned the book (unread at the
time, alas) in my Great Books
collection, and spent an evening scanning it for the phrase, without
success. I knew it was a valid quote however, because, hell,
Brian Lamb and all those historians had given it their imprimatur by virtue of their Ex Parte acceptance. To Wit, and Et Cetera.
Much later, perhaps last year, I found this Weekly Standard article, THE TOCQUEVILLE FRAUD,
which predated Lamb's series by two years. I was at first
disappointed that it could not be attributed to de Tocqueville any
longer, but later thought what the hell? No matter who coined it,
the words were brilliant, and as far as I was concerned, spot on.
But this is what prompted me to write about it today.
Yesterday we were without power from 4:00 PM to 1:24 AM this
morning, So, there I was - with a perfect excuse not to be
cleaning the garage, or painting the living room, and instead just
loafing it up in the dark. I fired up a Coleman lantern and began
reading some magazines before finding my copy of "Stories in His Own Hand: The Everyday Wisdom of Ronald Reagan
." The
stories are, as you know, some of the 650 handwritten manuscripts
written by Ronald
 
Click for copy
Reagan in the 1970's, and just recently
discovered. Reagan haters, who by that very act reveal themselves
to be vapid, churlish, ignorant, and motley-minded hempseeds,
were more than a little upset to discover this evidence of Renaldo
Maximus' intellect and industry, something they had heretofore
gainsaid. Guess what I found on page 9? That's
right. In his own hand.
While it's evident that Reagan didn't coin the quote, in the absence of
any other person taking credit for it, I hereby claim the quotation in
the name of Ronald Wilson Reagan! Ha! I beat Putin to
it. Carry on.
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