Americans will observe the 250th anniversary of our nation in about five years. Funny, I can still remember the Bicentennial when I was a kid. Our small town held a celebration. My family got all dressed up, with my mother even making a Betsy Ross outfit. Like so many others, we loved putting out our red, white, and blue decorations.
Not surprisingly, I grew up as a bit of a geek when it came to history. I thought of our founders like superheroes — bigger than life.
However, my first trip to Washington didn’t come until the summer of my senior year in high school. The American Legion sent me there for a program called Boys Nation. More than the political sites, I was struck by the monuments to our fallen heroes. They are stark reminders of the debts paid to ensure our freedoms.
President Ronald Reagan appropriately warned that “freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
History shows us what happens to those who are denied freedom. As a child, I remember the lines for food in Communist countries. I remember the stories of Soviet dissidents seeking asylum in the United States. I remember the images of Cuban refugees risking their lives floating on shark-infested waters to get to America. What did they want? Freedom. Freedom and opportunity.
It is what drew my great, great grandfather Thomas Llewellyn to come from Merthyr Tydfil in south-central Wales to America. He started as a blacksmith in Philadelphia and eventually made his way to the Midwest. One of his daughters lived past the age of 100 in the state where her great-grandson eventually became a two-term governor.
My wife’s grandfather was an Italian fisherman before he set sail from Sicily to Ellis Island. He found a job, worked hard, and then went back to bring his wife to the U.S.
Our family’s ancestors are like so many others who have been drawn to the appeal of freedom and opportunity. As Reagan said, America is the shining city on the hill.
Some came generations ago. Some came days ago. More than 1 million immigrants legally enter this nation each year. America has more foreign-born citizens than any nation in the world — four times more than the next closest country. Many of them are fleeing oppressive nations such as Venezuela, parts of the Middle East, and even China.
It should not be lost on any of us that so many of the people fighting for freedom around the world carry our flag and sing our national anthem while too many “woke” young people here at home burn our flag and attack our national anthem and other symbols. As Reagan said, “We’ve got to do a better job of getting across that America is freedom — freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of enterprise — and freedom is special and rare. It’s fragile. It needs protection.”
Now, more than ever, we need to defend the principles that have made this country great. It is why Young America’s Foundation, of which I am CEO, fights to protect individual liberties, free enterprise, a strong national defense, and traditional values. It is why we fight for freedom and opportunity for all.
As mentioned, I thought of our founders as bigger than life. Like all humans, they were far from perfect. But they fought to create a more perfect nation. A nation where all people are created equal, that they are “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
My first visit to Independence Hall in Philadelphia came as an adult. Standing there, I was struck by what they did and what they risked to do it. Most of the patriots had fame and fortune. But they risked more than just their political careers or their business ventures. They risked their lives for the freedoms we hold dear today.
What gives me hope for the future is that the history of our great republic is filled with men and women who had the courage to defend these liberties. These patriots thought more about future generations than they did about their own social standing or financial interests. It is why I am preparing to lead Young America’s Foundation as its president in 2021.
Without a doubt, what happens on Nov. 3 will have a major affect on the future. But the fight to defend freedom is far greater than just a battle over one election. It is a fight about whether the people of these United States of America will remain free.
Scott Walker (@ScottWalker) served as the 45th governor of Wisconsin and is CEO and president-elect of Young America’s Foundation.
