Executive Orders History – American Minute with Bill Federer
Executive Orders are not specifically mentioned in the Constitution, but Article 2, Section 3, does say the President is to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.”
Executive Orders are Presidential directives to his staff, or government officials and agencies, having the force of law. Initially, they were not distinguished from Presidential Proclamations, Memorandums, and Letters.
Executive Orders were not numbered until 1907, when they were then retroactively assigned back to 1862. There are over 1,500 unnumbered Executive Orders.
In 1936, the Federal Register Act required that Executive Orders be documented and made public.
George Washington issued 8 Executive Orders.
His first was when war between England and France was beginning, and he issued an Executive Order for American citizens to stay neutral.
Since there was not a clear way of enforcing it, when Congress came back in session, it supported Washington by passing the Neutrality Act of 1794.
Lincoln issued 48 Executive Orders, saying
“to the extent of my ability I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union be faithfully executed in all the States.”
His first Executive Order was at the outset of the Civil War. Democrat John Merryman organized riots in Maryland which attacked Union troops and destroyed telegraph lines. Local Democrat law enforcement refused to arrest him.
Lincoln considered him a public threat and issued an Executive Order to arrest him.
There was a problem, though, as his arrest violated Merryman’s right of habeas corpus, which required law enforcement to first bring the accused before a judge with evidence before locking him in jail.
Before the Supreme Court had a chance to determine if Lincoln had over-stepped his authority, Congress supported Lincoln by passing the Habeas Corpus Act of 1863.
Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which was an Executive Order to free the slaves. Congress considered this an overreach of his authority.
Lincoln responded by pushing Congress to ratify the 13th Amendment.
Theodore Roosevelt greatly expanded the use of Executive Orders, issuing 1,081 of them.
His attitude was, instead of seeing if the Constitution authorized him, he would issue Executive Orders unless the Constitution specifically prohibited him.
He wrote in his autobiography:
“My view was that every executive officer … was a steward of the people bound … to do all he could for the people … anything that the needs of the Nation demanded unless such action was forbidden by the Constitution ….
Under this interpretation of executive power I did … many things not previously done by the President … I did not usurp power, but I did greatly broaden the use of executive power.”
What one President does, however, is often outdone by subsequent Presidents.
Thus President Woodrow Wilson issued 1,803 Executive Orders, claiming the emergency of World War I justified it.
During the Great Depression and World War II, Franklin Roosevelt issued a record 3,721 Executive Orders.
By an Executive Order, Roosevelt confiscated all gold held by private citizens.
He closed all banks in the country for four days.
He created agencies, like the Works Progress Administration – WPA, and the Office of Censorship.
He seized private businesses, including mines and factories, such as the North American Aviation plant in California.
Congress supported Roosevelt’s orders by passing the War Labor Disputes Act of 1943.
Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 which rounded up 122,000 Japanese-Americans and confined in internment camps in the desert.
The Supreme Court backed up Roosevelt in the 1944 case of Korematsu v. U.S.
Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8807 to establish the Manhattan Project which created the atomic bomb. Truman did not learn about it until a day after Roosevelt died.
President Truman issued 908 Executive Orders, with a notable one being desegregating the military.
During the Korean War, Truman tried doing what Roosevelt and Wilson did, but this time, Congress and the Courts pushed back.
When union steel workers went on strike in 1951, Truman issued an Executive Order seizing control of all the steel manufacturing plants in the nation.
The Supreme Court limited Truman in the 1952 Youngstown case, saying:
“Presidential powers are not fixed but fluctuate depending upon their disjunction or conjunction with those of Congress … When the President acts pursuant to … authorization of Congress, his authority is at its maximum.”
Eisenhower issued 484 Executive Orders, one of which deployed troops to desegregate Arkansas schools.
John F. Kennedy issued 214 Executive Orders, one of which, EO 10924, created the Peace Corp and another, EO 10973, created USAID.
Lyndon Johnson issued 325 Executive Orders. One was to demand affirmative action be pushed on all federal contractors.
This was eventually struck down by the Supreme Court in 2023.
Another, EO 11130, created the Warren Commission to investigate the Kennedy assassination, which many now suspect was to cover up evidence of his involvement.
Gerald Ford issued 169 Executive Orders, one of which pardoned Richard Nixon.
Jimmy Carter issued 320 Executive Orders, one of which, EO 12127, created FEMA.
Another promoted wage and price controls, including setting the price of oil with Executive Order 12153.
When the Iran crisis took place, Carter issued an Executive Order freezing all Iranian assets in the U.S.
Ronald Reagan issued 381 Executive Orders, many of which peeled back layers of government regulation that hampered economic growth.
Bill Clinton issued 364 Executive Orders, saying: “Stroke of the pen, law of the land. Kind of cool.”
One of his Executive Orders prohibited replacements for striking union workers, which the courts reversed.
George W. Bush issued 291 Executive Orders. One limited the public from seeing presidential documents.
After 911, by Executive Order 13228, Bush created the Department of Homeland Security.
He then instituted government surveillance of American citizens without a warrant, even authorizing the NSA National Security Agency to eavesdrop on citizens’ phone calls.
Obama issued 276 Executive Orders, saying: “We are not just going to be waiting for legislation … I’ve got a pen, and I’ve got a phone.”
Obama issued Executive Order 13707 titled “Using Behavioral Science Insights to Better Serve the American People,” which authorized the Federal government to secretly use media to carry out psychological operations on the American public.
President Donald Trump issued 220 Executive Orders in his first term.
Biden issued 162 Executive orders, many of which revered Trumps Executive Orders.
When Roe v. Wade was overturned, Biden issued Executive Order 14079, to continue ending of the lives of unborn children.
In the first month of Trump’s second term, by Executive Proclamation, he freed J6 prisoners.
He issued more than 70 Executive Orders, including:
recognizing only two sexes (EO 14168);
keeping men out of women’s sports (EO 14201);
protecting children from chemical and surgical mutilation (EO 14187);
ending radical indoctrination in K-12 schooling (EO 13985);
ending DEI (EO 14151);
establishing the Department of Government Efficiency (EO 14158);
securing the borders (EO 14165);
withdrawing the U.S. from the World Health Organization (EO 14155);
withdrawing from Paris climate agreement (EO 14162);
designating drug cartels as terrorist organizations (EO 14157);
protecting Second Amendment rights (14206);
freeing up land for oil drilling (14154);
declassifying records of the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (EO 14176);
renaming national monuments, including renaming the Gulf of America (EO 14172); and
eradicating anti-Christian bias (EO 14202), stating:
“The United States Constitution enshrines the fundamental right to religious liberty in the First Amendment …
Yet the previous Administration engaged in an egregious pattern of targeting peaceful Christians … bringing Federal criminal charges and … multi-year prison sentences against nearly two dozen peaceful pro-life Christians for praying … outside abortion facilities.
Those convicted included a Catholic priest and 75-year-old grandmother, as well as an 87-year-old woman and a father of 11 children who were arrested 18 months after praying and singing hymns outside an abortion facility … part of a politically motivated prosecution campaign by the Biden Administration … a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) memorandum asserted that “radical-traditionalist” Catholics were domestic-terrorism threats …
The Biden Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sought to force Christians to affirm radical transgender ideology against their faith …
The Biden Administration declared March 31, 2024 — Easter Sunday — as ‘Transgender Day of Visibility’ …
Catholic churches and institutions have been aggressively targeted with hundreds of acts of hostility, violence, and vandalism …
My Administration will not tolerate anti-Christian weaponization of government or unlawful conduct targeting Christians.”
Since these Executive Orders can be reversed by any future President, it is up to Congress to pass laws supporting the President’s directives.
The Liberator, February 21, 2025, published Mat Staver’s article “Codifying Executive Orders into Law to Secure a Legacy”:
“Executive Orders should be seen as a launching pad for legislation that Congress needs to set in stone.
The federal government was given a clear mandate from the American people in 2024 — Congress must ensure this mandate is not one presidential action away from erasure.“
—
The Weekly Sam: Why the Federal Government Should Get Out of Education By Samuel L. Blumenfeld
The real issue is Limited Government versus Unlimited Government Most Americans want less government, smaller government and lower taxes. The only way to accomplish this is by abolishing federal departments and bureaucracies. As far back as the Reagan administration, Republicans promised to abolish the Department of Education. They couldn’t do it then because they lacked a majority in Congress. But whatever happened to the plan to abolish the Department of Education when Republicans became the majority? Not only did they forget their promise, but in September 1996 they passed the single largest increase in federal education funding: $3.5 billion. Who were the Republicans trying to impress? The National Education Association? The basic question is: Can good education be provided in the U.S. without the help or intrusion of the federal government? The answer is clearly yes. In fact, there is ample evidence indicating that the present decline in educational quality is a direct result of federal funding which has been used by the educators to fund more and more expensive educational malpractice.
A little historical background will help us understand why the federal role in education in America is more of an aberration than a natural development. There is no mention of education in the U.S. Constitution. However, in 1785 and 1787, while the United States were still under the Articles of Confederation, the Continental Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance Acts which provided for the orderly settlement of the Northwest Territory and encouraged the establishment of schools in the territory by stating: “Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall be encouraged.” The new states were required to set aside the 16th section of each township to be used for educational purposes.
But there was no requirement that the schools be government owned and operated. Seventy-five years later, in 1862, Congress passed and President Lincoln signed the Morrill Land Grant Act providing each loyal state with 30,000 acres of land for each Senator and Representative, the land to be used for agricultural and mechanical schools under a measure proposed by Senator Justin S. Morrill of Vermont. Five years later, in 1867, a federal Office of Education was established. Its purpose was:
“To collect such statistics and facts as shall show the condition and progress of education in the several States and Territories, and to diffuse such information respecting the organization and management of schools and school systems, and methods of teaching as shall aid the People of the United States in the establishment and maintenance of efficient school systems, and otherwise promote the cause of education throughout the country.”
It should be noted that the National Education Association had been founded ten years earlier in 1857 and that its members called for the establishment of a federal department of education at the founding convention. And it is obvious that in that statement of purpose was an expansionist view of the government’s future role in education. After World War I, the NEA began a long range campaign to get federal aid for public education. From 1867 to 1940–a period of 73 years–the Congress passed about 11 minor pieces of legislation related to education. The fear of federal control of schools kept most legislators from voting for federal aid to public education. But resistance was gradually broken down by such acts as the National School Lunch Act of 1946, the School Milk Program Act of 1954. But it was the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 passed during the Johnson administration which opened the floodgates of the U.S. Treasury for the benefit of the education establishment.
From 1965 to 1983–18 years–there were 43 education acts passed by the Congress, including the establishment in 1979 of a U.S. Department of Education with cabinet status. In the year 1994 alone, there were about 180 educational restructuring bills before Congress! The three most important bills enacted were the Goals 2000 Act, the School-to-Work Opportunities Act, and the Improving America’s Schools Act, a reauthorization of the ESEA of 1965. All of this legislation was passed with much Republican help. In short, the Congress launched an avalanche of bills which virtually amounted to a cultural revolution. It seemed as if all restraints had been removed on government expansion and intrusion into education, and the Republican Congress did nothing to reverse the trend.
That is why the federal government has become a government of unlimited power. We must return to the principle of limited government if we wish to reduce the cost of government and its unwarranted intrusion in the education of our children. A limited federal government does only those things that cannot be done by the states or the private sector. The purpose of taxes is to pay for government, not change society. There is no doubt that the federal intrusion in education has harmed education and produced the dumbing down effect. Test scores attest to this bizarre phenomenon. Since 1962, SAT verbal scores have declined despite billions of federal dollars pumped into public education. In September 1993, the U.S. Department of Education revealed that some 90 million adult Americans have grossly inadequate reading and writing skills, despite compulsory school attendance.
The more federal money Congress pumps into education the worse it gets. Why? Because educational malpractice is very expensive, and without federal funding we’d have much less of it. The simple truth is that federal education programs cost the taxpayers billions of dollars, yet not one of these programs has actually improved education. Claims have been made that HeadStart is a successful program. But research indicates that whatever gains children make in HeadStart are lost by the third grade. Federal education grants subsidize a liberal academic elite with its secular humanist, socialist agenda, thus violating the Constitutional prohibition against establishing a state religion: Humanism.
The Data Collection System of the National Center for Education Statistics threatens family privacy and freedom. Children are not a “national resource” to be monitored and controlled for use by the state or industry. They are individuals whose lives belong to themselves, not to “the economy.” The federal government has institutionalized educational malpractice by supporting unsound educational theories and practices which have found their way into the public schools via the federally funded National Diffusion Network. Federal aid to public education simply reinforces a socialist, government owned and operated education system which distorts market values and encourages monopoly union practices.
Meanwhile, the education establishment continues to grow and prosper. In 1982, the average public school teacher’s salary was $19,274. In 1995 it was up to $37,643., and in 2008 it us up to $47,602. In 1982, per pupil expenditure was $2,726. In 1995-96 the national average was up to $6,213, and in 2009 it was up to $9,963. In 1984, total expenditure for public education was $134.5 billion. In 2002 it had risen to $420 billion. In short, never has public education been more generously supported by the taxpayer and never have our schools seen more violence, academic disarray, and parental dissatisfaction than the present.
What is even more shocking is that over four million students must be drugged daily with Ritalin in order to be able to attend class. Today, well-connected change agents like Mark Tucker are busy imposing on America the new Human Resources Development System, exuberantly described by Tucker in an 18-page letter to Hillary Clinton when her husband was elected President. Tucker described his system as “a seamless web of opportunities to develop one’s skills that literally extends from cradle to grave and is the same system for everyone–young and old, poor and rich, worker and full-time student.”
And so, in place of academic excellence, we have Outcome Based Education, Whole Language, Multiculturalism, Skinnerian Mastery Learning, National Teaching Standards and Certification, School-Based Clinics, Attitude Assessments, Global Citizenship, and Socialized Medicine for every student. What is actually taking place is a cultural revolution engineered by behavioral psychologists, humanist educators, and socialist change agents using a whole galaxy of education programs to implement their agenda, financed by the federal government. And much of this has taken place when Republicans were in control of Congress. And that accounts for the extreme frustration of conservatives who vote Republican but get liberal results.
When will this change? The takeover of the White House and the federal government by radical leftists has finally awakened the American people to what has happened to this country since we started allowing the federal government to exceed all limits placed on it by the Constitution. But in order to succeed in restoring the principles of government held by our founding fathers, we must return to limited government. This can only be done if the American people realize the potential for tyranny inherent in a government education system. The most important institution in a socialist state is a government owned and controlled school system wherein children can be indoctrinated to accept a socialist way of life. And the best way to prevent this from occurring is to return to the concept of educational freedom in which the federal government has no role in education.
Local public schools can easily become private institutions governed by local trustees and supported by tuition fees. This would greatly reduce the tax burden on home owners and provide more than enough resources to pay for the tuitions of poor families. The costs of education would decrease dramatically since education would once more become reality based wherein the fundamental academic subjects would be taught without the added costs of educational malpractice. Individual intelligence would be enhanced, while collectivist group-think would be discarded.
Can this be done? Only if America’s conservative leaders demand that it should be done. The home-school movement has already proven that parents can actually teach better than our high-priced professionals, that children progress better academically when taught at home, and that the cost of educating a child at home is less than $1,000 a year. If Americans want to once more experience what it means to be free, they must burst out of the high-priced straitjacket imposed on them by the socialist education tyrants. If they want better education at lower cost, then the prescription for success is simple: get the government out of education.
(The above timeless article is from the Sam Blumenfeld Archive http://blumenfeld.campconstitution.net/main.htm
Announcing the Guest Speaker for Camp Constitution’s Ladies Spring Fling May 2-4 at the Alton Bay Christian Conference Center Alton, NH
We are pleased to announce that author Michelle Gallagher will be the speakers at our 5th annual Ladies “Spring Friday May 2 to Sunday May 4 at the Alton Bay Christian Conference Center https://altonbay.org/
Michelle Gallagher:
Michelle is an author, designer, and book publisher. Her first book, the “Forefathers Monument Guidebook,” uses a colorful tour of this iconic national monument in Plymouth, Massachusetts, to present the Pilgrim story in a fresh way to a modern generation. Released in 2021 to strong sales, the Forefathers Monument Guidebook has received glowing endorsements and is now in its third printing as a hardcover book. Her second project, “Monumental Prayers: 14 Days of Prayer Inspired by the Faith of the Pilgrims,” was released in May 2023 in partnership with Intercessors for America (IFA). Both projects were published through Proclamation House, Inc., an independent publishing company she co-founded with her husband in 2019 to create quality books and teaching materials that herald faith and freedom to the generations. (www.ProclamationHouse.org) In 2023, they published their first outside project for IFA entitled “Inspired Stories” to a national audience.
Our recent interview with Michelle:
In addition to Michelle, the weekend event includes arts and crafts. Classes on gardening, Bible studies, optional marksmanship training, and an evening campfire.
The cost for the weekend which includes two nights of lodging, five meals and materials will be $200. per person. For an application, please response to this E-,mail Payments can be made via our PayPal account accessed from our website’s homepage https://www.campconstitution.net or by check payable to Camp Constitution and mailed C/O Hal Shurtleff146 Powder Mill Rd. Alton, NH 03809. An application and a bring list is attached to this E-mail.
Gloucester Man Alex Destino puts left-wing clergy in their place
The following is a statement released by a group of “clergy” in the Gloucester, MA area-Cape Ann and an excellent rebuttal from Alex Destino-a life-time resident of the Gloucester:
MIDWEEK MUSINGS: By The Associated Clergy of Cape Ann
On Jan. 21, in the traditional prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral, the Episcopal bishop, the Rt. Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde, asked President Donald Trump to “have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now.” Many people were angered by her words, insisting that such language had no place within a service of worship.
The Associated Clergy of Cape Ann is writing to share our support for Bishop Budde and to thank her for her prophetic witness. Clergy of any religious tradition understand that our call to ministry is, when necessary, to speak truth to power.
Throughout human history, prophets have emerged during turbulent times to raise their voices and to speak their truth. When we think of prophets we most often think of the ancient voices in the Hebrew Bible: Amos, or Jeremiah, or Isaiah. Here is the Prophet Amos: “I hate, I despise your festivals … but let justice flow down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (Amos 5:21,24).
Of course, throughout Jesus’ public ministry he spoke prophetically to the crowds who gathered, words that are familiar to us today. We remember well Jesus’ response to the question of what commandment in the law is the greatest: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind … and a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39)
The words of warning and admonition spoken to the powerful often make people uncomfortable. No one wants to hear that they are missing the mark, acting out of covenant with God. It’s the role of prophets to tell us, and hope that we will have ears to hear.
Often a prophet is scorned. We see in the Gospel of Luke how Jesus was rejected for his preaching: an enraged crowd in Nazareth “got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff.” (Luke 4:29-31)
We tend to celebrate prophets from earlier times, not those of the present. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the most prophetic voices of the 20th century, was often deeply unpopular among ordinary citizens and those in the corridors of government. He was only silenced by assassination, at the age of 39. Today, he is honored. Time has made his words feel safer to us.
Clergy learn of all these powerful examples as they take up their calling. But in fact, reading the words of others is just the beginning. We are also called to serve, and to act on behalf of the vulnerable and the oppressed, to do all we can to bend the arc of the universe toward justice. We take this call seriously.
And we ask that others join us in lifting their voices, in finding ways to serve, in showing mercy and compassion, and helping those in need. It is all of our work together: we are all needed, and we all have a role to play. There are many different ways to serve, many opportunities to offer mercy and care. We do not have to agree on everything in order to each put our shoulders to the wheel and to foster more kindness in an often harsh world. But prophets of any age would tell us that we are not ever let off the hook; that we are not allowed to do nothing. Regardless of our political and religious beliefs, the work to foster justice and mercy remains the same.
Perhaps an outspoken clergy member, or even attendance at religious observances has made you uncomfortable. Do you ask yourself why that is? Is it easier to blame the person uttering the words for your discomfort than it is to search your heart?
In the concluding paragraphs of her 2023 book, “How We Learn to be Brave,” Bishop Budde wrote, “As a person of faith, I dare to trust that God is at work amid the most challenging realities of our lives, and that by grace and acceptance, we join God in the holy work of transforming the world.” (p. 183)
It’s a tall order, to transform the world. No one can do it alone. Working together, we can accomplish a great deal. We hope you will join us.
Members of the Associated Clergy of Cape Ann,
The Rev. Janet Parsons, minister, Gloucester Unitarian Universalist Church.
Rev. Valerie M. Roberts-Toler, interim pastor, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Gloucester
Rev. Printice M. Roberts-Toler, United Methodist pastor, (retired)
Rev. Susan Moran, minister, Unitarian Universalist Society of Rockport
Rev. Tess Baumberger, minister, First Universalist Church of Essex
The Rev. Alice W. Erickson, United Church of Christ,
The Rev. Judith Brain,
Rev. Sue Koehler-Arsenault, pastor, Annisquam Village Church
Rev. Rona Tyndall, pastor, West Gloucester Trinitarian Congregational Church, United Church of Christ
Elsa Marshall, C.M.C.E.Y.M.,
The Rev. Dr. Norma Brettell, pastor, Trinity Congregational Church, United Church of Christ
The Rev. Jim Achadinha, pastor, The Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport
Brother Patrick Garvey, Diocesan hermit, The Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport
The Rev. Derek van Gulden, First Congressional Church of Rockport, United Church of Christ
The Rev. Wendy Fitting, Unitarian Universalist minister (retired),
The Rev. Marya DeCarlen, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Gloucester.
The Rev. Sean Bendigo, senior pastor, First Church in Wenham
And Mr. Destino’s rebuttal:
My Response to The Associated Clergy of Cape Ann—Midweek Musings
The Associated Clergy of Cape Ann, entrusted with guiding their congregations in faith and doctrine, present themselves as biblical leaders. However, some of their recent statements raise concerns about their alignment with Scripture.
In their letter, they endorsed Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde’s call for “mercy” on transgender children and illegal immigrants at the National Prayer Service before President Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and their families. While mercy and compassion are core Christian values, our faith leaders must also remain firmly rooted in biblical truth.
Bishop Budde—the first woman and openly lesbian individual to serve as Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington—represents a departure from God’s design for church leadership.
Scripture is clear on this matter: God has established distinct roles for men and women within the church (1 Timothy 2:12; 1 Corinthians 14:34-35). This is not about inequality—Scripture affirms that men and women are equally valued but called to serve in different capacities. When these distinctions are disregarded, the church risks following cultural trends rather than God’s Word.
The Bible is also unambiguous regarding sexual morality (Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10). By fully embracing Bishop Budde’s leadership without acknowledging these teachings, the clergy of Cape Ann appear to be prioritizing societal pressures over Scripture.
At the same time, these clergy seem to be promoting gender ideology rather than biblical truth. While we are called to love and support all individuals, true compassion does not affirm confusion, but leads people toward clarity and truth. God created humanity male and female (Genesis 1:27), and our identity is divinely appointed before birth (Psalm 139:13-16; Jeremiah 1:5). Shouldn’t clergy, above all, uphold this truth?
Additionally, these clergy are actively protesting President Trump for enforcing immigration laws while remaining silent on the greatest crisis facing our nation: Under the Biden administration’s open-border policies, more than 365,000 children have gone missing—many tragically trafficked and exploited (Department of Homeland Security, 2024). Where is their outcry and compassion for these vulnerable children?
Beyond theology, there are financial concerns regarding the funding of faith-based organizations.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has revealed that faith-based NGOs—including the Episcopal Church and Catholic Charities—have received tens of millions in taxpayer dollars, in part, to fund LGBTQ+ and immigration programs.
This raises a serious question: Whose interests are these clergy truly serving? Are they answering to the government agencies that fund them or to their parishioners, who seek God’s unfiltered truth? Consider Matthew 6:24, Zechariah 11:13, and Matthew 26:14-16.
To the Associated Clergy of Cape Ann, I offer these questions with sincerity:
Where were you when Christians were arrested for praying on sidewalks and reciting the Rosary outside abortion clinics?
Where was your support and protests for Christian parents arrested at school board meetings for opposing gender policies?
Where were you when our religious freedoms were being infringed upon during COVID? You closed your churches while liquor stores and big-box retailers remained open. Did any of you stand up for religious freedom?
And why were you silent when the FBI spied on traditional Catholics while attending Mass, labeling them “potential domestic threats”?
To the faithful Christian and Catholic community of Cape Ann: Please join me in prayer for our region’s clergy. My hope is that they will return to their sacred duty of upholding God’s Word without compromise.
The church’s calling is not to conform to culture but to stand unwavering in God’s truth (Romans 12:2). Our community needs shepherds who will lead with wisdom, conviction and faithfulness to God’s Word.
Alex Destino
Gloucester
Friend of Camp Constitution Ed Martin Nominated by President Trump for D.C. Attorney
Long-time friend of Camp Constitution, head of the Phyllis Schlafly Eagles, and host of The Pro America Report radio show was chosen by President Trump to be the U.S. Attorney of Washington, D.C. While his appointment didn’t sit well with the left-wing media, we are delighted to hear the news. Ed is currently serving as the acting D.C. Attorney and needs Senate confirmation. Our prayers are with him and his family.
Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
It is my honor to nominate highly respected Edward R. Martin, Jr., for the full and permanent term of United States Attorney for the District of Columbia.
Ed has led a distinguished career of service, including as Human Rights Office Director for the Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis, where he supervised legal clinics for low-income residents. He later worked as judicial clerk to Judge Pasco M. Bowman, II, of the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals, and launched his own successful Law practice. He has also invested his expertise in other roles, but always with the same goal, of serving his community, and creating a brighter future for all.
Since Inauguration Day, Ed has been doing a great job as Interim U.S. Attorney, fighting tirelessly to restore Law and Order, and make our Nation’s Capital Safe and Beautiful Again. He will get the job done.
Camp Constitution Director Hal Shurtleff was a guest on Ed’s Show on a number of occasions.
And in September 2017, Hal interviewed Ed about his book that he co-authored with Phyllis Schlafly:
https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/shurtleffhal/episodes/2017-09-11T06_13_01-07_00
Black History Month: To Celebrate or Not to Celebrate?
Back in the mid-1980s while a mail handler working for the United States Postal Service at what was called the South Postal Annex, I had a conversation with a White liberal co-worker. I was trying to “Red Pill” him” by loaning him a book, Hijacked the Anthory Bryant Story. Mr. Bryant was a Black Panther turned born-again Christian and patriot. Bryant hijacked a plane to Cuba back in 1969. Thinking he would be given a hero’s welcome; he ended up spending twelve years in a Cuban hellhole prison.
My liberal co-worker never bothered to read the book because it didn’t fit his liberal narrative. “You need to travel around the country and then get back to me,” he exclaimed. I told him that while I wasn’t the most well-traveled man, “I have been in the Deep South, but it wouldn’t make any difference to you.” He accused me of not knowing much about Black history. I then began to ask him some questions:
Who was the first Black U.S. Senator?
Who was the Black man killed in the Boston Massacre?
Who invented the traffic light?
What was the name of the first all-Black unit in the Civil War? (1)
He didn’t know the answer to any of the questions and a few more I posed to him
‘For someone who knows so much about Blacks, you don’t know much about Blacks,” I replied.
A number of my Black co-workers were listening to the conversation. As my liberal co-worker was about to clock out, I asked him one more question “Why did you White liberals give Blacks the shortest month of the year to celebrate Black History Month?” This question ended our friendly relationship. My Black co-workers, on the other hand were high fiving each other, and congratulated me for putting this condescending White liberal in his place.
A Black postal co-worker, a friend, and I were discussing the issue. He was a conservative minded man but told me that Whites write history. I asked him if he could name the Black man who was killed in the Boston Massacre. “Crispus Attucks” he correctly replied. “Now name the White victims,” I queried. “You made your point,” he replied. (2)
Actually, Black History Month wasn’t chosen because it was the shortest month of the year. It started as Negro History Week in 1926 thanks to the efforts of historian Carter G. Woodson and the members of the Association for the Study of Negro Life. The second week of February was chosen because the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglas fall in that week. Of the Negro History Week, Professor Woodson said
“It is not so much a Negro History Week as it is a History Week. We should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in History. What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hatred and religious prejudice.”
Woodson acknowledged the work of William Cooper Nell, perhaps the first Black American historian. I highly recommend Nell’s book, Colored Patriots of the American Re volution which is still in print. His book included a segment on the nation’s first all-black militia-the Bucks of America. This Boston based unit was led by Colonel George Middleton, who may have been the first Black military officer in U.S. History. John Hancock, and his son John George Washington, Hancock, who may have been the Buck’s mascot, presented a flag to Colonel Middleton to honor the militia unit. The original flag is on display at the National Museum of Black History in D.C. Nell helped bring the name of Crispus Attucks, one of the victims of the Boston Massacre into national prominence.
Negro History Week was observed by schools and organizations. Mayors of some cities would pass resolutions observing Negro History Week. In 1976, President Gerald Ford was the first president to declare February Black History Month with these remarks:
“Seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”
Every president since then has issued proclamations. On January 31, Trump issued this:
Today, I am very honored to recognize February 2025 as National Black History Month.
Every year, National Black History Month is an occasion to celebrate the contributions of so many black American patriots who have indelibly shaped our Nation’s history.
Throughout our history, black Americans have been among our country’s most consequential leaders, shaping the cultural and political destiny of our Nation in profound ways. American heroes such as Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Thomas Sowell, Justice Clarence Thomas, and countless others represent what is best in America and her citizens. Their achievements, which have monumentally advanced the tradition of equality under the law in our great country, continue to serve as an inspiration for all Americans. We will also never forget the achievements of American greats like Tiger Woods, who have pushed the boundaries of excellence in their respective fields, paving the way for others to follow.
This National Black History Month, as America prepares to enter a historic Golden Age, I want to extend my tremendous gratitude to black Americans for all they have done to bring us to this moment, and for the many future contributions they will make as we advance into a future of limitless possibility under my Administration.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim February 2025 as National Black History Month. I call upon public officials, educators, librarians, and all the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirty-first day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth
I have mixed thoughts on Black History Month. On one hand, I think it is important for all Americans to learn of the incredible contributions made by many Black Americans from the Battle of Lexington to the Civil War, World War One and Two to the Deserts of the Middle East, Black Americans fought and died for our nation. Their ranks also include educators, explorers, inventors, architects, political leaders athletes, artists, clergy, doctors, poets, writers, jurist and every other profession and trade. However, the Left has hijack Black History Month by promoting race hatred and division. Leftists give us a sanitized version of the likes of WEB DuBois and Paul Roberson-both communists- while having disdain and contempt for Christians Booker T. Washington, and George Washington Carver. And they ignore people like George and Philippa Schuyler, Julia Brown, Dr. Mildred Jefferson, and Clarence Thomas just to mention a few. (They especially hate Justice Thomas.)
Many prominent Black Americans including Morgan Freeman, Stacey Dash, and Vince Ellison have denounced Black History Month. In an interview on 60 Minutes with Mike Wallace, Freeman said that “Black History is American History” and Black History should not be “relegated to one month.
https://youtu.be/-L5mYyvf2UE?si=X0ADGWMffeLWC8BC
In a 2016 interview on Fox and Friends, Dash said:
“We have to make up our minds. Either we want to have segregation or integration, and if we don’t want segregation, then we have to get rid of channels like BET and the BET Awards and the Image Awards, where you’re only awarded if you’re black,” she continued. “If it were the other way around, we’d be up in arms. It’s a double standard. There shouldn’t be a black history month. We’re Americans, period.”
https://youtu.be/FAppNlNSnXk?si=plIzKs-Nb338DdLh
Vince Ellison, in a recent podcast, said that he “feels sorry for White folks” during Black History Month, that it is a “waste of time…A bunch of lies… Black people are oppressed…White people are low down and America is bad…”
https://youtu.be/P1TNwhkwcyE?si=2WExO_bJD3CgTNk3
While it may be a while before we as a nation can jettison identity politics, and the inordinate influence that the Cultural Marxist, Death Cultists and Self-Loathing Whites have, we can celebrate and honor the incredible accomplishments of Black Americans year-round.
Here is a recommended project for those of you who have children in government schools: Download this picture below and have you or your child take it to his or her history teacher.
(1) First Black U.S. Senator Rev. Hiram Revels of Mississippi,
Crispus Attucks was killed in the Boston Massacre
Garret Morgan invented the traffic light.
The 54th Massachusetts was the 1srt all Black unit that fought in the Civil War
(2) Samuel Gray, James Caldwell, Samuel Maverick, and Patrick Carr.
Presidents’ Day – George Washington’s Birthday – American Minute with Bill Federer
The tallest was Abraham Lincoln at 6’4” and shortest was James Madison at 5’4”.
The heaviest President was William Howard Taft at 332 lbs.
Four died in office: Harrison, Taylor, Harding, Franklin Roosevelt. Four were assassinated: Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, Kennedy. One resigned, Nixon.
The youngest elected President was John F. Kennedy, at age 43, but the youngest to serve was actually Theodore Roosevelt, who assumed the office at age 42, when William McKinley was assassinated.
The oldest person elected President is Donald J. Trump at age 78 and 7 months.
But did you know President’s Day is actually George Washington’s Birthday?
Washington’s birthday was recognized by an Act of Congress for government offices in Washington, D.C., in 1879, and for all federal offices in 1885.
In 1971, the Uniform Monday Holiday Act to create more three day weekends moved the observance of Washington’s birthday to the third Monday in February.
Abraham Lincoln was also born in February so many States include him in the observance, and still other States include all the Presidents.
George Washington was born FEBRUARY 22, 1732. He was;
- unanimously chosen as the Army’s Commander-in-Chief;
- unanimously chosen as President of the Constitutional Convention;
- unanimously chosen as the first U.S. President;
- unanimously re-elected to a second term.
George Washington was an Anglican, and, after the Revolution, an Episcopalian.
George’s great-great-grandfather, Reverend Lawrence Washington, was an Anglican minister who taught at Oxford.
Lawrence and his wife, Amphyllis Twigen, had a son named John.
When the Puritans won the English Civil War in 1651, Anglican ministers were demoted. Lawrence was reduced to being an assistant minister – a vicar – at an impoverished parish in Essex, England.
It was during this time that John Washington, George Washington’s great-grandfather, apprenticed as a merchant in London.
He sailed as second officer on a ship to the Colony of Virginia to purchase tobacco.
In 1657, when a storm partially sank their vessel in the Potomac River, John swam ashore.
While the ship was being repaired, John stayed at the home of a planter Colonel Nathaniel Pope, and fell in love with his daughter, Anne. John never returned to England.
John and Anne married, and her father gave them 700 acres in Westmoreland County.
John Washington became a successful planter and a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses.
He was a militia leader during Nathaniel Bacon’s Rebellion against Governor William Berkeley in 1676.
A local Anglican church was renamed “Washington” in honor of John Washington.
When John died, he left to the church a tablet of the Ten Commandments. His Will stated:
“In the Name of God, Amen. I, John Washington, of Washington Parish, in the County of Westmoreland, in Virginia, gentleman, being of good and perfect memory, thanks be unto Almighty God for it,
and calling to remembrance the uncertain state of this transitory life, that all flesh must yield unto death, do make, constitute, and ordain this my last will and testament …
… First, being heartily sorry, from the bottom of my heart, for my sins past, most humbly desiring forgiveness of the same from the Almighty God, my Savior and Redeemer, in whom and by the merits of Jesus Christ, I trust and believe assuredly to be saved, and to have full remission and forgiveness of all my sins,
and that my soul with my body at the general resurrection shall rise again with joy.”
The oldest of John Washington’s sons was Lawrence, the grandfather of George Washington.
Lawrence married Mildred Warner, the daughter of Col. Augustine Warner, Jr., an ancestor of Queen Elizabeth II.
Lawrence and Mildred had three children, the second being Augustine, who would become George Washington’s father.
When Lawrence died in 1698, Mildred married George Gale and moved back to England with her children.
When Mildred died, a relative in America petitioned to get custody of her children, including Augustine, and they were returned to Virginia in 1704.
Augustine Washington served as a vestryman in the Anglican Truro Parish.
He and his wife Jane Butler had two sons live to adulthood, Lawrence and Augustine Jr.
Both Lawrence and Augustine, Jr., went back to England to study at the prestigious Appleby Grammar School.
Jane died in 1729.
Augustine married Mary Ball in 1731, and together they had 6 children, with the oldest, George Washington, being born February 22, 1732.
Augustine died in 1743 when George was only 11-years-old.
George hand copied the Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation, 1744, which included Rule #110:
“Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.”
George’s older half-brother Lawrence fought in the British navy under Admiral Edward Vernon, who had captured Porto Bello, Panama, from Spain in 1739.
When Lawrence returned to Virginia in 1742, he named his farm after his navy Admiral — Mount Vernon.
Lawrence married Anne Fairfax.
Her father, Col. William Fairfax, had been Collector of Customs in Barbados, and Chief Justice and Governor of the Bahamas, as well as a first cousin of Thomas Fairfax, who was the largest land owner in America with five million acres.
Lawrence arranged for George, at age 15, to begin a career in the British navy as a cabin boy, but his mother, Mary Ball Washington, refused.
George complied with his mother’s wishes and returned home.
In 1748, Lawrence arranged for 16-year-old George Washington to be employed by Thomas Fairfax to survey the western area of his vast estate.
In 1751, Lawrence Washington contracted tuberculosis.
In hopes that a change of climate would help him recover, doctors recommended he travel to Barbados, where his father-in-law had been Collector of Customs.
He brought along his 17-year-old half-brother George.
This was the only time that George left the American continent.
In Barbados, George contracted smallpox, but recovered. This providentially inoculated George so that he was immune during the Revolutionary War, where it is estimated that more soldiers died of smallpox than in battle.
Lawrence died in 1752 and his Mount Vernon estate eventually was inherited by George, making him one of the youngest and largest landowners in Virginia.
George became vestryman in Truro Parish, and was godfather in baptism to several nephews and a niece.
From 1753-1758, George served in the French and Indian War.
He was a colonel under General Edward Braddock, Commander of the British forces in America.
George miraculously survived the Battle of Monongehela in 1755.Braddock was killed, leaving George in command.
On July 18, 1755, Washington wrote from Fort Cumberland to his brother, John A. Washington:
“By the All-Powerful Dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation; for I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side of me!”
Colonel Washington wrote to Fort Loudoun, April 17, 1758:
“The last Assembly … provided for a chaplain to our regiment. On this subject I had often without any success applied to Governor Dinwiddie. I now flatter myself, that your honor will be pleased to appoint a sober, serious man for this duty. Common decency, Sir, in a camp calls for the services of a divine.”
In 1759, George fell in love Martha “Patsy” Dandridge Custis, a 26-year-old widow and mother with two children, John “Jacky” Parke Custis and Martha “Patsy” Parke Custis.
Martha had inherited five plantations totaling 17,500 acres.
Martha’s daughter Patsy died at age 16 of an epileptic seizure in 1773, while George held her in his arms. He wrote:
“The sweet, innocent girl entered into a more happy and peaceful abode than she had met in the afflicted path she had hitherto trod.”
In 1775, after the Battle of Bunker Hill, George Washington was commissioned as the General of the Continental Army.
He wrote to Martha, June 18, 1775:
“My Dearest … It has been determined in Congress, that the whole army raised for the defense of the American cause shall be put under my care, and that it is necessary for me to proceed immediately to Boston to take up command of it.
You may believe me, my dear Patsy, when I assure you, in the most solemn manner that, so far from seeking this appointment, I have used every endeavor in my power to avoid it …
But as it has been a kind of Destiny, that has thrown me upon this service, I shall hope that my undertaking it is designed to answer some good purpose …
I shall rely, therefore, confidently on that Providence which has heretofore preserved and been bountiful to me, not doubting but that I shall return safely to you in the fall.”
On July 4, 1775, General Washington ordered:
“The General … requires … observance of those articles of war … which forbid profane cursing, swearing and drunkenness; And … requires … punctual attendance of Divine Services.”
On October 2, 1775, General George Washington issued the order:
“Any … soldier who shall hereafter be detected playing at toss-up, pitch, and hustle, or any other games of chance … shall without delay be confined and punished …
The General does not mean by the above to discourage sports of exercise or recreation, he only means to discountenance and punish gaming.”
On February 26, 1776, General Washington issued the orders:
“All … soldiers are positively forbid playing at cards and other games of chance. At this time of public distress men may find enough to do in the service of their God and their country, without abandoning themselves to vice and immorality.”
Washington acknowledged God throughout the Revolution, as he wrote on May 15, 1776:
“The Continental Congress having ordered Friday the 17th instant to be observed as a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer, humbly to supplicate the mercy of Almighty God,
that it would please Him to pardon all our manifold sins and transgressions, and to prosper the arms of the United Colonies, and finally establish the peace and freedom of America upon a solid and lasting foundation;
the General commands all officers and soldiers to pay strict obedience to the orders of the Continental Congress;
that, by their unfeigned and pious observance of their religious duties, they may incline the Lord and Giver of victory to prosper our arms.”
On July 2, 1776, from his Head Quarters in New York, General Washington issued his General Orders:
“The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own;
whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged and destroyed, and themselves consigned to a state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will deliver them.
The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army.
Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us no choice but a brave resistance, or the most abject submission. We have, therefore to resolve to conquer or die …”
He continued:
“Our own country’s honor calls upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion, and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world.
Let us rely upon the goodness of the cause, and the aid of the Supreme Being in whose hands victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble actions.”
When the Declaration of Independence was written, a copy was rushed out to Washington, who was fortifying New York City.
He had it read to his troops, then ordered chaplains placed in each regiment, stating July 9, 1776:
“The General hopes and trusts, that every officer and man, will endeavour so to live, and act, as becomes a Christian Soldier, defending the dearest Rights and Liberties of his country.”
At the Battle of Brandywine, September 1777, Washington and Polish Count Casimir Pulaski, Father of the American Calvary, were scouting in the woods.
British sharpshooter Patrick Ferguson reportedly had Washington in his sights but refused to shoot him in the back.
As recorded in The Writings of George Washington (March 10, 1778, 11:83-84, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1934), George Washington ordered:
“At a General Court Marshall … Lieutt. Enslin of Colo. Malcom’s Regiment tried for attempting to commit sodomy, with John Monhort a soldier…and do sentence him to be dismiss’d the service with Infamy.
His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief approves the sentence and with Abhorrence and Detestation of such Infamous Crimes orders Liett. Enslin to be drummed out of Camp tomorrow morning by all the Drummers and Fifers in the Army never to return.”
General Washington wrote at Valley Forge, May 2, 1778:
“To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest Glory to laud the more distinguished Character of Christian.”
To the Delaware Indian Chiefs who brought three youths to be trained in American schools, General Washington stated, May 12, 1779:
“You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ.”
The tremendous victory at the Battle of Yorktown, October 19, 1781, securing America’s independence, was personally bittersweet for Washington, as his wife’s son, John Parke Custis, who had been an aide-de-camp, died there of camp fever, November 5, 1781.
After the Battle of Yorktown, toward the end of the war, many soldiers had not been paid in years, as the Continental Congress had no power to tax.
Disgruntled officers plotted a Newburgh Conspiracy to force Congress to give them back pay.
This was dangerous, because a show of disunity could have persuaded British to renew fighting.
Washington surprised the conspiracy by showing up at their meeting in New York, March 15, 1783.
Taking a note from his pocket, he put on reading glasses, which few had seen him wear, and read:
“Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have not only grown gray but almost blind in the service of my country …”
Becoming aware of his personal sacrifice, officers’ hearts melted. He urged them not to open the floodgates of civil discord.
With this one speech, the conspiracy collapsed.
Major General David Cobb, who was an aide-de-camp to Washington, wrote of the Newburgh affair:
“I have ever considered that the United States are indebted for their republican form of government solely to the firm and determined republicanism of George Washington at this time.”
Though never having children of his own, George agreed to adopt John Parke Custis’ two young children as his own: Eleanor “Nelly” Parke Custis and George Washington Parke Custis, whose daughter, Mary Anna, married Robert E. Lee.
When the Articles of Confederation proved inadequate for the new nation George Washington agreed to preside over the Constitutional Convention in 1787.
He opened the Constitutional Convention with the line:
“The event is in the hand of God.”
In 1789, he was sworn in as the first President of the United States.
President Washington thanked God for the Constitution, October 3, 1789:
“Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the Providence of Almighty God …
I do recommend … rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks, for … the favorable interpositions of His Providence … we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war … for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government.”
On August 15, 1787, in a letter from Philadelphia to the Marquis de Lafayette, Washington wrote:
“I am not less ardent in my wish that you may succeed in your plan of toleration in religious matters.
Being no bigot myself to any mode of worship, I am disposed to indulge the professors of Christianity in the church with that road to Heaven which to them shall seem the most direct, plainest and easiest, and the least liable to exception.”
Washington sent a letters to the Jewish Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island, and in Savannah, Georgia, stating:
“May the same wonder-working Deity, who long since delivered the Hebrews from their Egyptian oppressors, planted them in a promised land, whose providential agency has lately been conspicuous in establishing these United States as an independent nation, still continue to water them with the dews of heaven.”
In 1794, during the Whiskey Rebellion, Washington became the only sitting President, as Commander-in-Chief, to lead the United States Army into the field.
The insurrection dissolved and Washington forgave the insurrectionists. This was in sharp contrast to the harsh behavior of European kings.
Washington chose only to served two terms as President, leaving an example which every succeeding President follow till Franklin Roosevelt, necessitating the 22nd Amendment.
Twice Washington had supreme power, — as the General who defeated the most powerful army in the world, and as President who could have served for life; and twice he gave it up.
As the early country took shape, partisan politics became increasingly vicious, with Washington even being the victim of ungracious attacks.
He warned how ambitious politicians would be tempted to use crises as opportunities to usurp power.
In his Farewell Address, 1796, Washington warned of those who would usurp power and rule through executive orders:
“Disorders and miseries, which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an Individual … (who) turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty …
The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism …
Let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed.
The precedent (of usurpation) must always greatly overbalance in permanent evil any partial or transient benefit which the use can at any time yield.”
Earlier, in 1783, the American-born painter Benjamin West was in England painting the portrait of King George III.
When the King asked what General Washington planned to do now that he had won the war.
West replied:
“They say he will return to his farm.”
King George exclaimed:
“If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.”
Poet Robert Frost once wrote:
“I often say of George Washington that he was one of the few men in the whole history of the world who was not carried away by power.”
Charles Francis Adams, the grandson of John Adams, wrote:
“More than all, and above all, Washington was master of himself. If there be one quality more than another in his character which may exercise a useful control over the men of the present hour, it is the total disregard of self when in the most elevated positions for influence and example.”
Washington continually had toothaches. By the time of his Inauguration, he had only one tooth.
Several dentists made make-shift dentures for him.
Washington had slaves from inheritance, marriage, and purchase, as did almost half of the founders.
As the influence of Baptists, Methodists and Quakers spread, many founders abandoned slavery — similar to today, how more and more pro-abortion supporters are becoming pro-life.
Washington freed his mulatto man William:
“And to my Mulatto man William (calling himself William Lee) I give immediate freedom … I allow him an annuity of thirty dollars during his natural life … & this I give him as a testimony of my sense of his attachment to me, and for his faithful services during the Revolutionary War.”
In his Will, Washington freed the rest of his slaves upon his wife Martha’s death. Martha freed them the year after Washington died.
In his Will, George also made provision that elderly and sick slaves were to be supported by his estate in perpetuity.
On May 10, 1786, George Washington wrote from to Marquis de Lafayette:
“Your late purchase of an estate in the colony of Cayenne, with a view of emancipating the slaves on it, is a generous and noble proof of your humanity …
Would to God a like spirit would diffuse itself generally into the minds of the people of this country.”
George Washington added a warning in his Farewell Address, 1796:
“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports.
In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great Pillars of human happiness.”
—
The Weekly Sam: God Is a Salesman by Sam Blumenfeld
I picked up this little book the other day in a discount bookstore. Intrigued by the title,
God Is a Salesman, I started thumbing through it and came across this thought-provoking
passage.
Success in life and the ability to sell are inexorably bound. Whether you are
moving Chevies off a showroom floor, inspiring others to achieve a goal, or
spreading your philosophy on how best to engage in real estate investing, you
have to sell. You have to educate. You have to influence.
It was enough to get me to buy the book. The author, Mark Stevens, is not only a
fervent believer in God, he is also a very successful marketer who has learned to sell by
emulating The Master. He writes:
“When I say God is a salesman, I mean an influencer,
an educator, and a force that enables us to bridge the gap between what we see and what
may well be the greater truth.”
When I finished reading the book, I realized that we are all salesmen and always selling
something. As a writer, I am constantly selling my ideas to publishers, selling my books
after they’ve been published, selling my knowledge, intelligence, and experience. That
is the essential activity in a free society based on free enterprise. In a communist society
salesmanship is not needed. It is forbidden. You are told what to do, where to work,
and paid the government’s set wage.
Under capitalism, we must sell ourselves when we apply for a job. We get an education
in order to make ourselves saleable. The more saleable the better. Our aim is to earn
money by offering our services to others so that we can support ourselves. And in a free
society we have the choice of earning money by doing something we enjoy. That
requires ingenuity and creativity. Indeed, the fuel of invention is the desire to produce
something new of great value that will make us rich.
The ability of the author to combine God’s standards with human salesmanship is quite a
feat. This is the first book on salesmanship that I found enlightening and instructive
because Stevens elevates the whole concept of selling above the mundane view we have
of salesman as huckster. In other words, the salesman must have vision and the ability
to convey the true value of what he is selling.
He tells of the day he spent with Bill Gates at Microsoft, before Gates had become a
household name: “He waxed poetic about an ideal encapsulated in a vision. His goal of
seeing a computer on every desk in every home and office….There is a genuine analogy
here to religion, which sells us the ability to have meaning in our lives.” He also asked
Gates if he thought much about money. The answer was sharp: “Thinking a lot about
money is the best way to make sure you never earn a great deal of it. Far wiser to focus
on a passion, on something powerful you can do to change peoples’ lives. I have always
believed that the money will then follow.” Profitable advice for young entrepreneurs.
Even the concept of the guarantee is based on the guarantee that God will return our faith
with His eternal love and protection. That is a guarantee that the salesman must emulate
when selling his service or product. In other words, our guarantee must be real and not
conditional. Stevens writes further:
“As we seek to learn from The Master, we should think of why He is adored. It
has nothing to do with a product or service, it is because we believe God is great,
loving, accepting, generous, and moral. None of these attributes are flashy,
trendy, exotic, or expensive. Quite the opposite, they represent the staff of life,
simple goodness and inner beauty that is so rare in our world that when we see it
we are awed by it.”
Since selling is the central economic, social, and spiritual activity in a capitalist society, it
is worth noting that God has played a crucial role in the development of our modern
American civilization. It is that spiritual underpinning that permits human beings to
engage in economic activities that require trust, honesty, and integrity. Before the word
capitalism was invented, the free-market system was called the ”credit system,” whereby
entrepreneurs borrowed money to finance their businesses and paid the money back. It
could also have been called the “trust system,” because that’s what it was all about.
Indeed, the foundation of the free-market system is the concept of private property. That
is why we have a Patent Office, to ensure the private property rights of inventors.
The aim of the Fabian Socialists was the abolition of private property. Today, we have a
federal government that is gobbling up more and more property in the West, depriving
citizens of the productive use of land and resources that can build our prosperity.
The Democrats didn’t even try to sell us their national healthcare program. They simply
rammed it through a Democratic Congress despite overwhelming public opposition.
You cannot sell anything with lies. By lying you are admitting that what you are selling
is either of no value or is indeed harmful.
You cannot sell what will harm your customer, unless you lie about it. The Democrats
were not emulating The Master in selling national healthcare. Socialists are not
salesmen. They are imposers. That is why the message in Mark Stevens’ book is so
important. Salesmanship requires honesty. It requires truth. And a government that
lies to its citizens is a destructive force.
The policies and philosophy of the Democrat Party are in conflict with the principles of a
free-market economy, which requires honest salesmanship. The Democrats have been
trying to sell us socialism and slavery, which the American people are not buying.
Indeed, it is up to Americans to rediscover the importance of honest salesmanship in all
aspects of our lives, including government, based on the principles of The Master
salesman in all of history.
The Blumenfeld Archives
Origin of Saint Valentine’s Day – American Minute with Bill Federer
The origin of Saint Valentine’s Day goes back to early Christian history.
Today, at a time when governments are increasing their persecution of Christians, it is important to remember that the Church was born into a one-world anti-Christian government – the Roman Empire.
In the Book of Acts 1:8, Jesus told His disciples:
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
According to Easton’s Bible Dictionary, the word for “witness” in Greek is “martus,” which is the root word for “martyr.”
Eleven of the twelve apostles were martyred, with John boiled in a pot of oil but miraculously surviving and banished to the Island of Patmos.
During the first three centuries of Christianity, there were ten major persecutions, along with innumerable smaller ones.
Initially, Romans persecuted Jews and Christians together.
Christians met in catacombs, which were caves carved underground, risking their lives every time they met.
Government agents shut down churches, arrested pastors, sentenced believers to death, even throwing them to the lions in the Colosseum.
64-68 A.D.: Emperor Nero blamed fire in Rome on Christians and began first persecution;
69-79 A.D.: Emperors Vespasian and Titus persecuted Christians, in addition to destroying the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem;
89-96 A.D.: The persecution under Emperor Domitian included boiling the Apostle John in oil then banishing him to Patmos, in addition to hunting down and killing descendants of David;
108-117 A.D.: The persecution under Emperor Trajan;
117-138 A.D.: The persecution under Emperor Hadrian crushed the Jewish Bar Kokbah Revolt and renamed the Roman province of Judea to Syria Palaestina;
161-180 A.D.: The persecution under Emperor Marcus Aurelius killed Polycarp, the disciple of John;
192-211 A.D.: Persecution under Emperor Septimius Severus;
235-238 A.D.: Persecution under Emperor Maximinus the Thracian;
249-251 A.D.: Persecution under Emperor Decius;
253-260 A.D.: Persecution under Emperor Valerian;
268-270 A.D.: Persecution under Emperor Claudius II Gothicus, during which Saint Valentine was reportedly martyred;
274-285 A.D.: Persecution under Emperor Aurelian;
285-305 A.D.: Persecution under Emperor Diocletian, considered the worst of them all, decimating the entire Roman Theban Legion, which had become Christian, in addition to imprisoning Saint Nicholas;
305-313 A.D.: Finally, the persecution under Emperor Galerius.
Roman soldiers raided meetings and arrested believers, dragging them before corrupt judges, and also confiscated and destroyed Christian writings, scriptures and church records. As a result of this, records of the life of Saint Valentine are scant.
What little is known is from the works like Eusebius of Caesarea, c.339 A.D.. and the Martyrologium Hieronymianum – Martyrology of Jerome, compiled around 460-544 A.D.
Passio Marii et Marthae, published in the 5th or 6th century includes a story of the martyrdom of Saint Valentine of Rome.
St. Valentine is mentioned in the Legenda Sanctorum by Jacobus de Voragine in 1260 and in the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493.
Though several individuals may have had that name, it appears Saint Valentine was either a priest in Rome or a bishop in Terni, central Italy.
In the third century after Christ, the Roman Empire was being invaded by Goths.
Claudius II defeated the Goths at the Battle of Naissus, driving them across the Danube River, gaining him the additional name “Gothicus, meaning conqueror of the Goths.
At the same time, the Plague of Cyprian, probably smallpox, broke out killing at its height 5,000 people a day. So many died that the Roman army was depleted of soldiers.
Claudius needed more soldiers to fight the invading Goths. He believed that men fought better if they were not married, so he banned traditional marriage in the military.
Valentine risked the Emperor’s wrath by standing up for traditional marriage, secretly marrying soldiers to their brides.
Rome was also being torn from internal rivalries which continued since the assassination of the previous Emperor Gallienus.
Claudius quelled political tensions by requesting the Roman Senate deify Emperor Gallienus, so he would be worshiped along with the other Roman gods.
Government mandates were issued forcing citizens to worship them by placing a pinch of incense on a fire before their statues.
It was a simple act, and some Christians caved, but since it clearly “an act of worship,” others chose rather to die in the Colosseum before they would worship anything other than the one true God.
Those who refused worship of the Roman gods were considered “politically incorrect” or “unpatriotic” enemies of the state. They were cancelled and killed.
Emperor Deccan’s persecution intentionally targeted Christians by issuing government mandates and executive orders forcing them to deny their consciences or die.
Roman Governor Pliny the Younger wrote to Emperor Trajan, 111 A.D.:
“I ask them if they are Christians. If they admit it, I repeat the question … threatening capital punishment; if they persist, I sentence them to death.”
Emperor Trajan replied, 112 A.D.:
“If anyone denies that he is a Christian and actually proves it by worshiping our gods, he shall be pardoned as a result of his recantation.”
A pietist movement began of withdrawal from the corrupt society, with some believers living in caves as hermits or joining monasteries.
When Claudius II Gothicus demanded that Christians worship pagan idols and statues of deified Emperors, Saint Valentine refused.
The name Valentine is derived from the word “valor,” which means, strength of mind or spirit that enables a person to encounter danger with firmness and personal bravery.
Venerable Bede’s Martyrology, compiled in the 8th century, described St. Valentine being arrested and interrogated by Claudius II Gothicus.
Claudius was impressed with Valentine and tried to convert him to paganism to save his life. Valentine refused and tried to convert Claudius to Christianity instead. Claudius was offended.
He had Valentine arrested and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to die.
While awaiting execution, he preached to guards and other prisoners.
His jailer, Asterius, asked Saint Valentine to pray for his blind daughter. When she miraculously regained her sight, the jailer converted and was baptized, along with his entire family.
Right before his execution, Saint Valentine wrote a note to the jailer’s daughter, encouraging her in the faith, signing it, “from your Valentine.”
Saint Valentine was beaten with clubs and stones, and when that failed to kill him, he was beheaded outside the Flaminian Gate on FEBRUARY 14, 269 A.D.
I Timothy 4:8: “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”
I John 4:18 “Perfect love casteth out fear.”
In 496 A.D., Pope Gelasius is credited with designating FEBRUARY 14th as “Saint Valentine’s Day.”
The 8th-century Gelasian Sacramentary recorded the celebration of the Feast of Saint Valentine on February 14.
How did St. Valentine’s Day get associated with love?
In the High Middle Ages, circa 1393, Geoffrey Chaucer, called the father of English literature, wrote a poem called Parliament of Foules – Assembly of Fowls, or Birds. “Fowl” is an old word for “bird.”
It it he described how many bird species birds, chose their mates in mid-February:
“For this was Saint Valentine’s day, when every bird of every kind that men can imagine comes to this place to choose his mate.”
He made another mention in the final chapter of The Cantebury Tales:
“The book of the Duchesse; the book of Seint Valentynes day of the Parlement of Briddes – Birds.”
The association of birds with fidelity in marital love came about because the majority of bird species are believed to be monogamous.
Many bird species are considered to mate for life, such as varieties of:
Swans,
Geese,
Ravens,
Cranes,
Blue Jays,
Owls,
Hawks,
Woodpeckers,
Ospreys,
Raptors,
Puffins,
Pigeons,
Dove,
Penquins, and
Bald Eagles.
After elaborate courtships, depending on the species, these birds remain together until one partner dies.
Birds that mate for life often take turns sitting on the eggs, females at night and males during the day. They have offspring that require more extensive care and instruction from parents.
These species mate earlier in the season which allows their young more time to develop before the fall and winter seasons of long migrations or harsh winter weather.
After Chaucer’s poems, more references appeared in literature associating Saint Valentine’s Day with courtly love, such as John Donne’s Marriage Song; and William Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Midsummer Night’s Dream.
This eventually developed into the 18th-century English traditions of presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending St. Valentine’s Day greeting cards.
People often sign Valentine cards with X’s and O’s.
Where did this come from?
To answer this, we must go back to Rome. Remember Emperor Diocletian’s terrible persecution?
Believers prayed and Diocletian was struck with an intestinal disease so painful he abdicated the throne on May 1, 305 A.D.
The next Emperor, Gallerius, continued the persecution and was also struck with an intestinal disease, dying in 311 A.D.
Four Roman generals fought it out as to who would be the next emperor.
Two were defeated and it came down to Constantine and Maxentius and the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 AD.
Reportedly, the day before the battle, Constantine saw the sign of Christ in the sky, put it on his shields and banners, and won the battle. Afterwards he stopped the persecution of Christians.
What was the sign of Christ?
It is said to be the first two letters of the Greek name for Christ.
Just like we often abbreviate states with the first two letters, Greek abbreviated names with the first two letters.
The Greek name for Christ is Xριστό.
The first letter which makes the “ks” sound is written as an “X” and is called “Chi.” The second letter, that makes the “er” sound is written as a “P” and is called “rho.” These two letters were called the “Chi-Rho.”
Over the centuries, it got shortened just to the Chi or X. “X” became a common abbreviation for the name Christ.
This is why Christ-mas is abbreviated as X-mas.
In Medieval times, the “X” was called the Christ’s Cross, or “Criss-Cross.”
In colonial America, young students were taught the alphabet, but before it was an “X.” Children would begin their recitation of the alphabet with the saying, “May Christ’s cross grant me speed – or success.”
It reminded students that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
One of the colonial school books had the rhyme: “Mortals ne’er shall know —
More than contained of old the Chris’-cross row.”
The Christ’s Cross was a form of a written oath. This came down to us as, “put your X here”; or “sign at the X,” or saying, “I swear, cross my heart.”
Similar to the ancient practice of swearing upon a Bible, saying “so help me God,” then kissing the Bible, people would sign a document with or next to the Christ’s Cross to swear before God they would keep the agreement, then kiss it to show sincerity.
This is the origin of signing a Valentine’s card with an “X” to express a pledge before God to be faithful, and an “O” to seal the pledge with a kiss of sincerity.
History is intertwined with Valentine’s references:
On February 14, 1688, William and Mary were placed by Parliament on the English throne.
On February 14, 1778, John Paul Jones, sailing the USS Ranger, was given a nine-gun salute by French Admiral Lamotte-Picquet. This was the first time the Stars and Stripes flag was formally recognized by a foreign nation.
On February 14, 1779, British Captain James Cook is killed in Hawaii.
On February 14, 1817, Frederick Douglass, the Republican advisor to President Lincoln, was born a slave on a southern Democrat plantation. He was separated from his mother as a child and only remembers that his mother would call him, “my little valentine,” leading him to assume he was born on Valentine’s Day.
On February 14, 1844, John C. Fremont was the first explorer to discover Lake Tahoe. He later became the first Republican candidate for President.
On February 14, 1859, Oregon became a state.
On February 14, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell applied for a patent for the telephone.
On February 14, 1884, Theodore Roosevelt’s wife and mother died on Valentine’s Day. Depressed, he dropped out of New York politics, left his infant daughter with his sister, and went off to ranch in the Dakotas. He later came back to New York, took his daughter back, remarried and had five more children, then ran for President.
On February 14, 1912, Arizona became a state.
On February 14, 1929, the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre took place during the Prohibition era. Al Capone’s Chicago mob murdered seven members of Bugs Moran’s Irish gang.
On February 14, 1949, the first Jewish Knesset meeting was held, with Israel’s first President Chaim Weizmann.
Since the Roman persecutions, Christianity has become the most persecuted faith in the world, with over 300 being martyred each day, or one every five minutes, mostly in communist and fundamentalist Islamic countries.
The Center for Studies on New Religions reported that in 2016, 90,000 Christians killed, 30 percent by sharia Islamic terrorists. Several organizations keep track of this, such as Voice of the Martyrs, and SavethePersecutedChristians.
Saint Valentine’s love for Christ and his loving example of heroic valor still inspires believers to follow the scriptures:
Matthew 5:44: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.”
John 13:35: “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
I John 4:10 “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
I John 4:19 “We love him, because he first loved us.”
John 15:13 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
–
American Minute is a registered trademark of William J. Federer. Permission granted to forward, reprint, or duplicate with acknowledgement.
American Minute with Bill Federer South of the Border: Mexico’s Revolutions & How they pursued former Presidents & their supporters
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Reposted with permission from American Minute.