Thursday, November 25th, 2010 10:56:32

Thanksgiving for Leaders

Thanksgiving is a time to pause, reflect and be thankful. Unlike other holidays, it’s not about the gifts, the giving or the getting, but about appreciation and gratitude.

This week, I have been reflecting on the many things for which I am thankful: family, friends, pets, home, church and school. But I am also thankful to be a citizen of the United States, and am thankful for the leaders that our country has had throughout our history: President George Washington, President Thomas Jefferson, President Abraham Lincoln, President Theodore Roosevelt, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and President Ronald Reagan, to name just a few.

It’s easy to forget, in our own personal times of trial, that we, the American people, have been through much greater trials before. But it’s helpful to recall and be thankful for those who have come before us and led us through times of trial, to learn from them and gather strength and inspiration. That’s why I wrote “The Essential American: 25 Documents and Speeches that Every American Should Own.”