Only God Knows American Leaders and Heroes We Never Knew

We, of course, cannot know of all persons born in a given era, and we can identify certain critical individuals who had great influence for the good in their times. I need not list those from the Tanach as we are familiar -- or at least should be, although in our declining American society there is an appallingly low level of Biblical literacy.  Decline in literacy -- declining America -- connection?  Another discussion for another day.

America was blessed with an amazing group of real leaders who were able to coalesce and give direction to those desiring freedom from British tyranny.  It is doubtful that even two or three of them could have accomplished the independence of the United States; each played a vital part to produce the whole result.

There are others who are worthy of mention; among these are Frederick Douglass, President Lincoln, and Generals Grant and Sherman. Mr. Douglass's speeches and writings changed the minds of many who had previously either supported the South's "peculiar institution" or had not really thought about it. He showed these people the evil of slavery and the need to abolish it.  

President Lincoln had hated slavery from his youth, having seen it up close during a flatboat trip into the Deep South.  As a politician, he recognized prior to the War that the general public was not ready for outright abolition. The Southern States, I think, actually helped the President by including slavery in every Ordinance of Secession in the Confederate States.  As the Union armies moved south, soldiers' letters home describing the conditions of slavery also further advanced public opinion.

However, all of this would have done little good had the Union not won the war.  Most of the Union generals had been content to fight a battle and then win or lose, stop to refit, resupply, reorganize, and then prepare to fight again. Two Union generals realized that to actually win the war, it would be necessary to fight campaigns rather than just battles.

Two more who most people do not consider when thinking about environmental issues: who really saved the most whales? Greenpeace or John D. Rockefeller & Thomas Edison?  Herman Melville commented in Moby Dick that he was concerned that whales would be extinct in a few more years; whale oil being the fuel for lighting of homes, businesses, carriage and railway lamps, etc. Standard Oil, under Rockefeller's direction, developed a much cheaper way to refine kerosene, thereby making the whaling industry nearly uneconomic. Then Mr. Edison's researchers developed the incandescent light bulb, which eliminated the smoke and odor of kerosene lamps and lanterns. Even wealthy people who had continued to buy the cleaner burning whale oil quickly switched over to electric lighting.

Whales survived!

There have been others.

Among the millions killed before they could be born and grow up, have we lost those who would have had the gifts to cure dread diseases, develop energy sources that are actually clean and sustainable? How many would have grown up to be good mothers and fathers raising good children to carry on the faith that built the greatest civilization ever known?

L'chaim & l'shalom,

Don Belding. His thoughts after watching the JPLF video testimonial opposing SJ 30, a proposed radical abortion amendment to the CT state constitution during the CT Government Administration and Elections Committee public hearing on 3/25/22.