America: The Last Best Hope
Recorded on June 8, 2006
Location: The Heritage Foundation's Allison Auditorium
If we forget what we have done, we will forget who we are,
warned Ronald Reagan in his Farewell Address. William J. Bennett's
newest book, America: The Last Best Hope, responds to
President Reagan's heartfelt call for an informed patriotism. All
of us need to know more about this land we love and the people who
have made it possible for us to lead free and happy lives. America
as "the last best hope," comes from Lincoln's second message to
Congress. He used that phrase when things looked far bleaker than
they do today. He never lost faith in America, "this last best hope
of earth." Nor should we.
Our history is a great history: America is a place where, more
than anyplace else, dreams actually do come true. This is the
second greatest story, and the best political story ever told.
American history is full of sound and color, of character and high
principle, of blood and guts and gore. Readers of America: The
Last Best Hope are sure to fall in love with our country -
again or for the first time - not blindly, but with eyes wide
open.