#46 It's Morning in America

IDENTITY POLITICS | Mark Boonstra: So, as we go forward under a new presidential administration, let us find unity in our founders’ declaration that our rights and freedoms come from God.

Dec 16, 2024

Listen to our podcast version:

1×

0:00

-8:00

IT’S MORNING IN AMERICA

That was the opening line of a 1984 campaign ad for President Ronald Reagan.

People back to work. Interests rates down. Inflation cut in half. Home-buying up. Marriage rates on the rise. Prouder, Stronger, Better.

That was then.

But it can also be now.

Back in 1984, this “morning in America” theme highlighted America’s renewal during the first Reagan term following the disastrous four years of a well-meaning but feckless president (Jimmy Carter).

Now, forty years later, the theme is poised for a return. Once again, following a feckless four-year (Biden) presidency, America needs renewal. Today, like then, we have an economy in tatters. Devastating inflation. A world on fire. Hostages held for more than a year. Plus, an invasion at our very borders. And a seeming culture war.

Like President Reagan, incoming President Donald J. Trump has assembled a new coalition. Working people. Young people. Blacks. Hispanics. Women, especially married women. Christians, Jews, and Muslims.

And his promise is to usher in a new “golden age” of America, one that will improve the lives of ALL Americans, regardless of income, social status, race, creed, color, or religion. As President Trump said upon his 2024 election, “We’re going to help our country heal.” “It’s time to unite.” “Success will bring us together.”

But America is so divided today. How can it be done?

To answer that question, let’s circle back to President Reagan.

Years before he was elected to the presidency, Reagan delivered an address to the inaugural Conservative Political Action Conference. It was January 25, 1974. America found itself at that time in the throngs of the Watergate scandal, as a result of which a sitting American president (Richard Nixon) would, just months later—and for the first time—resign from office in the face of near-certain impeachment and likely removal from office.

America was also embroiled in an unpopular war in Vietnam. It was an uncharacteristic losing effort that would soon see the world’s greatest military and economic power departing the scene with its tail seemingly between its legs.

It is no wonder, with this backdrop, combined with the ineffectual Carter presidency, that America would find itself not only divided but in a state of malaise.

So, what did then-California-Governor Reagan say on January 25, 1974?

He hearkened back to America’s founding and to the core principles that have always united us as Americans. He recalled that our Founding Fathers, despite their diverse backgrounds and the disparate and conflicting interests of the colonies they represented, came together in unity to sign the Declaration of Independence and, later, the United States Constitution.

He spoke of his belief that there was a “divine plan that placed this great continent between two oceans, to be sought out by those who were possessed of an abiding love of freedom and a special kind of courage.” He noted that, instead of simply replacing one regime with another, “this had been a philosophical revolution. The culmination of men’s dreams for 6,000 years, and they formalized those dreams with a constitution. And that, too, was something of a miracle. Probably the most unique document ever drawn in the long history of man’s relation to man.”

He contrasted the United States Constitution with other nations’ constitutions, noting a critical distinction. “Those other constitutions say government grants you these rights and ours says you were born with these rights. They are yours by the grace of God and no government on earth can take them from you.” And he quoted Pope Pius XII: “The American people have a great genius for splendid and unselfish action. Into the hands of America, God has placed the destinies of an afflicted mankind.”

On January 20, 1981, seven years after Reagan delivered this address, he took office as the 40th President of the United States. In his inaugural address on that day, President Reagan pledged to work to toward an “era of national renewal” that would better the lives of ALL Americans: “Putting America back to work means putting all Americans back to work. Ending inflation means freeing all Americans from the terror of runaway living costs. All must share in the productive work of this ‘new beginning,’ and all must share in the bounty of a revived economy. With the idealism and fair play which are the core of our system and our strength, we can have a strong and prosperous America, at peace with itself and the world.”

And Reagan again invoked a reliance on the faith of those who founded America: “I'm told that tens of thousands of prayer meetings are being held on this day, and for that I'm deeply grateful. We are a nation under God, and I believe God intended for us to be free. It would be fitting and good, I think, if on each Inaugural Day in future years it should be declared a day of prayer.”

Four years later, in his second inaugural address, President Reagan urged the restoration of “our values of faith, family, work, and neighborhood” and renewed his call to create “a nation once again vibrant, robust, and alive.” He observed that “there are many mountains yet to climb,” and pledged that “We will not rest until every American enjoys the fullness of freedom, dignity, and opportunity as our birthright. It is our birthright as citizens of this great Republic.”

Reagan called for Americans to “stand as one today—one people under God, determined that our future shall be worthy of our past.” And he pledged for that future to be one of “golden years” that would embrace all Americans: “Let us resolve that we, the people, will build an American opportunity society in which all of us—white and black, rich and poor, young and old—will go forward together, arm in arm.”

President Reagan described the “American sound” as “hopeful, big-hearted, idealistic, daring, decent, and fair. That’s our heritage, that’s our song. We sing it still. For all our problems, our differences, we are together as of old. We raise our voices to the God who is the Author of this most tender music. And may He continue to hold us close as we fill the world with our sound—in unity, affection, and love—one people under God, dedicated to the dream of freedom that He has placed in the human heart, called upon now to pass that dream on to a waiting and hopeful world.”

There is a reason that President Reagan is remembered today as one of America’s greatest presidents. Much of that has to do with his commitment to bettering the lives of all Americans.

But even more fundamentally, it is because Reagan knew that we can only do so by instilling in all Americans a renewed appreciation for the core principles of America’s founding, and that we can only find unity and collaboration by re-embracing our Founding Fathers’ God-centered worldview in our politics. It is that worldview that will enable us to renew the shared values and principles that our Founding Fathers bequeathed to us nearly 250 years ago.

Identity Politics, with Mark Boonstra & Dr. Stephen Phinney, is an extension of IOM America’s IM Christian Writers Association. The mission of the authors is to restore faith in God & country.