In the whirl of President Trump’s first few days back in office he is securing our borders, fully freeing the oil and gas industry to explode with growth and ridding our public institutions of the poisonous Diversity, Inclusion and Equity (DIE) doctrine to name just a few.  He has also done something that only a distracted First World nation like ours would need to have done—he has again declared that there are only two genders, male and female.

The “golden age of America begins now,” Trump said again last week.  What does he mean by that and how does his hope for our country tie into our American Exceptionalism?

American Exceptionalism includes a strong economy, a strong national defense, secure borders, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and guaranteeing each of us the opportunity to fully utilize our lives and God-given abilities in an environment in which every American has the opportunity to excel.  I believe it also includes being proud of our national character and our extraordinary history.  However, American Exceptionalism can be reduced to the most granular level.

We recall instances after hurricanes Katrina and Rita in which the owner/driver of an 18-wheeler in Oregon said he had awakened one morning and felt powerfully moved to drive a truck load of bananas to Louisiana to help with the food problems.  FEMA wouldn’t accept them; finally, a group of churches did. Same story for an enormous number of donated McDonald hamburgers and over one hundred Lea’s pies. These kinds of examples are too numerous to count.

What about the flooding of New Orleans? What about the hundreds of Louisiana sportsmen who drove to the outskirts of New Orleans planning to help rescue as many stranded people as they could but were told by government agencies to turn around and go back home.  American exceptionalism? Who filled many of these great needs after those hurricanes and other natural disasters? Churches, families, and private businesses virtually all of whom donated their time and resources because they wanted to help their fellow Louisianans and Americans.

American exceptionalism? Internationally, how about the billions of dollars the United States has spent through American international health programs designed to fight HIV/AIDS, Malaria and TB throughout Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, which have saved the lives of over sixty million human beings.

After WWII, America was the world’s lone superpower and could have become an imperial one and essentially governed the world.  Not only did we not seek global dominance, we did the opposite.  Through the Marshall Plan and tremendous American aid and resources we helped other countries rebuild. Why? because unless provoked or endangered, the American spirit has never sought to subjugate other countries.

How about the miracle of our U.S. Constitution which gives rise to our Rule of Law; how about our shared belief that we are endowed by our Creator with certain rights that cannot be taken—all of which gave rise to a government instituted for the preservation of liberty? Our Bill of Rights which ensures our many freedoms including the guarantee that we cannot be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law? Our 2^nd Amendment?

That we cannot have our doors kicked in at 2:00 am without probable cause and a warrant? That we are guaranteed, every one of us, equal protection of the laws? Do we remember how rare all of this is?

No nation is perfect because nations are ruled by governments and governments are comprised of flawed human beings. Yet, throughout our history, we have always sought to correct our flaws as we strove for The Good, and, however imperfectly, the good was attained.

The American spirit is sterling as are the foundational ideals of liberty and equality to which we aspire.  American kindness and generosity are unbounded.  De Tocqueville observed that “the position of the Americans is therefore quite exceptional,” in Democracy in America, “and it may be believed that no democratic people will ever be placed in a similar one.” Why would he draw this conclusion?

Because he recognized the American spirit and the moral and religious character that anchored it. President Reagan noted many times that America is the greatest country in the world.  Again, it’s not perfect but it is, and remains, the last best hope of Earth. This exceptionalism is the basis of the new golden age to which Trump refers and aspires.