#it

As crucial as religion has been and is to the life of the nation, America's unifying force has never been a specific faith, but a commitment to freedom - not least freedom of conscience. ↗

— Jon Meacham

#been #commitment #conscience #crucial #faith

Attacks on a politician's identity - questioning Romney's religion, say, or Obama's birthplace - tend to come when an opponent is desperate and can't sell himself. ↗

— Jon Meacham

#birthplace #come #desperate #himself #identity

Barack Obama is many things; among them, he is a tough and even ferocious political warrior. ↗

— Jon Meacham

#barack #barack obama #even #ferocious #many

The American system of political spending is so unregulated that it might make Adam Smith rethink free markets. ↗

— Jon Meacham

#american #free #free markets #make #markets

One cannot and must not try to erase the past merely because it does not fit the present. ↗

— Golda Meir

#cannot #does #erase #fit #merely

Extremists often derive their inspiration from literal interpretations of texts that should rightly be read not as Associated Press reports from the ancient world, but as theological and literary enterprises requiring independent intellectual assessment. ↗

— Jon Meacham

#assessment #associated #derive #enterprises #extremists

From Jefferson to Jackson to Lincoln to FDR to Reagan, every great president inspires enormous affection and enormous hostility. We'll all be much saner, I think, if we remember that history is full of surprises and things that seemed absolutely certain one day are often unimaginable the next. ↗

— Jon Meacham

#affection #certain #day #enormous #every

Given that religious faith is an intrinsic element of human experience, it is best to approach and engage the subject with a sense of history and a critical sensibility. ↗

— Jon Meacham

#best #critical #element #engage #experience

Given that sexual orientation is innate and that we are all, in theological terms, children of God, to deny access to some sacraments based on sexuality is as wrong as denying access to some sacraments based on race or gender. ↗

— Jon Meacham

#based #children #deny #denying #gender

Here is a pretty good rule of thumb for Democratic Presidents: if it didn't work for Franklin D. Roosevelt, who won four terms and a World War, it probably won't work for you either. ↗

— Jon Meacham

#either #four #franklin #good #here