Our Most Courageous Political Leaders -- Then and Now

The more viciously Trump's enemies attack him, the more they add to his legend and legacy.

The Signers of the Declaration of Independence and Our First President risked it all.

In making a list of the most courageous political leaders our country has ever had, I would begin with those who risked everything: their reputations, theirs and their families’ fortunes, and their very lives. This country was birthed by such men. Fifty-six of them signed the Declaration of Independence. George Washington would have been the 57th, but at the time he was defending New York City as the Commander of the nascent Continental Army.

These 56 Signers were men of property. They, like Washington had a lot to lose and were risking it all. Their Declaration of Independence was nothing short of an act of treason against George III and the British Monarchy. Such treason was punishable by death, including drawing and quartering. To acknowledge this possibility, they concluded their Declaration by pledging "our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor" to their cause. Although the King could not take away their honor, they were fully aware that their lives and fortunes would be forfeited if they were defeated.

The risk was enormous. Great Britian was the strongest country in the world. Its well-trained army was disciplined to endure shot and shell while marching over open ground to within 50 yards of massed enemy troops, before firing their single-shot muskets and then driving the charge home with their bayonets. The colonies had only the nascent Continental Army and, at the time, had no navy to speak of.

With their Declaration, these 56 colonial patriots were telling the world that they were committed to taking on this highly trained and disciplined Army and the might of Great Britain. In the likely event that they were unsuccessful, then their property would be seized, and their families left destitute. As for them personally, they could expect to be executed.

It is difficult for us today to imagine the terrible risks that these courageous men took. They risked everything for the sake of freedom and for the country that ultimately would become the United States of America.

Does that kind of courage still exist in our political class? If so, who has it?

The answer to the first question is, for the most part, “No!” Political courage today has long been redefined to merely doing something that is not popular with everyone or that may could result in an increased chance that they will lose the next election or lose their government sinecure. Or “courage” may be simply doing something that the media thinks is a bit out-of-the-ordinary. Thus, Joe Biden was praised by many for his “courage” in yielding to the political arm-twisting to withdraw from the Presidential race and for anointing Kamala Harris as his successor. The Los Angeles Times lauded Harris for her supposed “courage” in choosing Tim Walz as her running mate.

Some might say that it takes courage when a senator or representative casts an unpopular vote that could result in their electoral defeat. Or when a president risks a government shutdown to thwart excessive spending. But such things do little more than put the actor at risk of losing the next election. Any such “courage” pales in comparison with the existential courage shown by the George Washington and the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence who were risking their lives and fortunes.

Who then?

But there is one prominent politician who has demonstrated such real, existential political courage: Donald John Trump.

No other President or Presidential candidate had endured the kind of murderous attacks against both himself and his family as has President-elect Trump. And I use “murderous” both literally and figuratively. I often hear people marvel at everything that he has withstood and overcome in order to persevere in his goals.

Since we gained our independence from Great Britian, no President or Presidential candidate other than Trump has endured the kind risks that are even close to those endured and overcome by the 56 Signers and George Washington. This is true whether you detest Trump as a threat to our “democracy” or whether you love him as a savior of the Republic. Whichever side of that divide you fall on, Trump has endured and survived more truly existential attacks than any other President or even any major political figure since the American Revolution.

Consider just these campaigns and attacks that put Trump’s and his family’s “lives and fortunes” at risk:

• Trump has been the subject of two assassination attempts this summer alone. Although I am not (yet) one who believes that these attempts were part of a government or Democrat-led plot to get him, there can be little serious doubt that the constant barrages of “Nazi, fascist, destroyer of democracy” propaganda contributed to the climate of hate that spawns such vile acts. (And there are many unanswered questions that could change my mind about the existence of a political conspiracy to murder him.)

• Use of the legal system to deprive Trump and his family of their freedom, fortune and livelihood. This has spawned a new word that has only recently come into common usage: “Lawfare.” Trump’s enemies have promised that they “will do everything [they] can to ensure that the former president never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office.” “Everything I can” obviously is a pretty broad brush that includes the campaign of lawfare against him.

• Attempts to imprison him — The lawfare has included criminal indictments in four separate federal and state courts on 86 charges. These indictments had at least three objectives: (1) drain Trump’s resources and cause as much financial distress, even bankruptcy, as possible, (2) put him in prison for up to the rest of his life, and (3) tar his reputation so badly that he could never be elected. I suppose I should add a fourth objective, which is to advance the political careers of those prosecuting him.

• The unprecedented raid on his home at Mar-A-Lago by heavily armed federal agents with orders allowing them to use “deadly force.” Even though the then-former President and his home were guarded by Secret Service agents who also were armed, the FBI claimed that this authorization to kill people was just fine because it was “standard protocol.” In other words, in a dispute over documents and even when the Secret Service is present, a former President of the United States gets the same treatment as a Mexican drug cartel boss.

• More drain-his-resources lawfare in over 30 states by state attorneys general, election officials, and other Trump enemies to bar him from even being on the GOP primary ballot. These cases were so unprecedented and frivolous that the Supreme Court reversed Colorado’s efforts by a 9-0 vote.

• Unprecedented civil suits by the State of New York and private parties that have resulted in huge, irrational verdicts against Trump. One of these, was brought by the New York State Attorney General, Letitia James, who campaigned on the promise to get Donald Trump on something. Shades of Lavrentiy Beria, Josef Stalin’s Chief of Secret Police (“Show me the man and I’ll find you the crime.”). See Cutting Down the Law to Get At the Devil.

  Then, after the verdict James made shameful efforts to invalidate Trump’s appeal bond, so that she could seize all his valuable properties in New York. All this was part of the effort to destroy the man and his family and to take their property, even while his case was on appeal.

In short, we have a cabal of loony litigants, powerful politicians, corrupt prosecutors, conflicted judges and an out-of-control federal DOJ and Attorney General who made it their life’s work to get Donald Trump, one way or another. Whether he was killed, imprisoned, bankrupted, or just harassed into surrender and submission did not matter — they and their allies pledged that this one man would never set foot in the White House again. Trump endured. He fought back. He has now won the election, but the war is still not over. Some may come to their senses, but others will persist.

You may disagree with Trump on any number of policy issues, but an honest person must give him credit for being the only President or major political figure since the American Revolution who has persevered in the face of such enormous personal risks and attacks. He obviously has not subjected himself and his family to all this for financial gain. Had he attempted a graceful retirement to devote his time and efforts to his family and businesses, he would no doubt be much better off financially. I can only conclude that he and his family are enduring it all because, like our 18th century forbears, they value liberty, love this Country, and want to wrench it away from its present path towards socialism and its handmaiden, financial ruin.

Two notes to my readers with an invitation

Comments are open to everyone and are invited.

I am not aware of any other US president since George Washington who has persisted in seeking the office in the face of such risks and threats. But I am opening comments to all readers, not just paid subscribers, with an invitation to everyone to chime in if they think I am incorrect. If so, please provide concise but detailed reasons. Nota bene: This is not an invitation to debate either the awfulness or the wonderfulness of Trump. I just want to see if there is a consensus or disagreement about my above thesis.

Ladies and gentlemen, there may be a short delay.

I generally try to publish a post about once a week or so. But tomorrow I will undergo a bit of surgery that will include an adventurous post-surgical recovery process. Although my activities will be somewhat limited for several months, I do not yet know how much time I will need before I am capable of writing a publishable post again. I hope that it might only be a few days or a couple of weeks, since it appears that I am going to have quite a bit of time on my hands. But I wanted all my readers to know that if you don’t hear from me for several weeks, it is due to that inconvenience, not to a lack of attention or interest.