Moral Caliber and Stalwart Character

At last an American “Downton Abbey” has premiered on PBS in the form of “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History” directed by Ken Burns. Beyond being a uniquely American story, Theodore, Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt embody the drama of a privileged family with the courage to triumph over adversity and personal tragedy.
In a recent interview Burns said, “They not only were able to escape the specific gravity of these horrible, horrible events, but they were then able to translate that into something that worked for other people, that somehow [with] this basic unifying philosophy that we all do well when we all do well, they transformed their own limitations into something and then actively went forward and transformed the lives of millions of their fellow citizens and gave us a reminder of that inner continuous spark that Americans have, that we're not independent free agents, that we're bound back to each other.”
I personally admire the fact that Theodore recognized the need for a balance between “mob rule and improper corporate influence.” But it is Franklin’s belief in our obligation to posterity expressed at Mt. Rushmore that I admire the most: “…to preserve for our descendants a decent land to live in and a decent form of government to operate under.”
It’s no wonder that today so many Americans search for candidates with the moral caliber of these stalwart figures from our distant past.