Joan Schramm
St. Joseph
I love to read historical books because I have a place in this long continuum of time. We all have a place and time in history. One look at my bookshelves and you would see presidential history fascinates me. Like many of you, and the polls would agree, Washington, Lincoln and FDR are the presidents we admire the most for their strength and wisdom. I also admire Harry Truman because he stepped in to finish a war, and Gerald Ford because he had to decide whether or not to pardon Richard Nixon.
I think the first president we remember as a child always seems special to us. The first president I remember is JFK. He is a president whose death, and the days that followed, are still vivid in my mind. I admire these men, but do not worship them. I do not ask them for forgiveness, nor do I thank them for my blessings. Our presidents are leaders who serve us just as it was meant to be.
“No man is above the law and no man is below it: Nor do we ask any man’s permission when we ask him to obey it.”
–Theodore Roosevelt