George & Martha Washington

“The Father of Our Country”

George Washington not only served as the first president of the United States, but he also commanded the Continental Army during the American Revolution (1775–83) and presided over the convention that drafted the U.S. Constitution. Because of his leadership, the colonies and country were established.

Martha Washington served as the nation’s first first lady and spent about half of the Revolutionary War at the front. She helped manage and run her husbands’ estates. She raised her children, grandchildren, nieces, and nephews; and for almost 40 years she was George Washington’s “worthy partner”.

In his will, written several months before his death in December 1799, George Washington left directions for the emancipation of all the slaves that he owned, after the death of Martha Washington.

Sources: britannica.com and mountvernon.org

Ronald Wilson Reagan

“The Man Who Saved Our Country from Demoncrat Jimmy Carter and 22% Inflation”

Ronald Reagan, Feb. 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004, served two terms as President of the United States (1980-1988). Credited for having turned this country around from the abject despair and malaise of a Jimmy Carter America to a thriving, shining Republican beacon that lifted the world, Reagan was responsible for tough-talking the Soviets into the eventual dismantling of the Berlin Wall (1989).

During the Reagan years I was syndicated as a published editorial cartoonist with Copley News Service of San Diego. It was my privilege to draw editorial cartoons and caricatures of this momentous time in our nation’s history when unparalleled economic growth, peace, and restored pride in our country reigned and we knew who our enemies were.

I miss Ronnie, his wit, his wisdom, and his ability to reach across the aisle to garner cooperation and respect from Democratic leaders.

President Reagan made us all feel better as Americans and his principled and positive impact on the U.S. and the world remains his legacy. There will never be another modern-day American patriot like him – except for Donald J. Trump.

–  John

My hand-drawn caricature of Ronald Reagan drawn in 1987 which elicited a thankful response from the White House.

A worthwhile read on the Reagan years by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard (2015).

Abraham Lincoln

“The Man Who Freed the Slaves”

Abraham Lincoln, February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865, was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the United States through the American Civil War, defending the nation as a constitutional union, defeating the insurgent Confederacy, playing a major role in the abolition of slavery, expanding the power of the federal government, and modernizing the U.S. economy.

– Wikipedia

“At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never!

All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years.

At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”

– Abraham Lincoln