By Edwin Cooney
I know that most people spend little time bothering about the significance of any date but I’m almost (but not quite, you understand!) obsessed with the meaning and significance of nearly every day and date. That makes me busy 365 days a year and on 366 days and dates every four years. So, what could possibly be historically significant about July 9th?
Of course, millions and millions of people are born and die every day. On Monday, July 9th, 1804, Elias Howe, the inventor of the sewing machine, was born. On Monday, July 9th, 1928, Dr. Ben Casey (okay, it was really actor Vince Edwards) was born. Lee Hazelwood, who sort of sang with Nancy Sinatra about Summer Wine and Jackson, first opened his eyes on Tuesday, July 9th, 1929. Then came Wednesday, July 9th, 1947 when Phillip Mountbatten and Princess Elizabeth of Great Britain announced their engagement. Finally, on Thursday, July 9th, 1948, Satchel Paige, who’d been toiling in the Negro Leagues for nearly two and a half decades, finally pitched for Bill Veeck’s Cleveland Indians. Thus, as you can see, this rather obscure date has ultimately meant a lot of things to a lot of people - some of them good, some of them bad, and some of them forever! As for Monday, July 9th, 2018, President Trump assures us it’s going to be a wonderful day, because by nominating someone “outstanding” to the United States Supreme Court, he’ll take another step forward toward making “…America Great Again!”
Now, I’m sure that some of you reading the above are of the impression that I don’t at all believe that the President is about to make “…America great again” and you’re largely right because as a student of history (and that’s all I am as I’m not a historian), I can’t tell you who or what made America great to begin with. Nor can I identify what constitutes national greatness. Nevertheless, sometimes, something no one predicted, affects the fate of whole nations.
On Tuesday, July 9th, 1754, the sudden death of British General Edward Braddock launched the career of George Washington amidst the wilds of western Pennsylvania. Soon thereafter, at the forthcoming battle of Fort Necessity, Washington won his first victory over the French. George Washington, the military leader, made George Washington a national leader. His national leadership made him president of the convention that created the Federal Constitution that hot summer of 1787 in Philadelphia. The success of that whole convention was brought about in large part because the delegates trusted General Washington enough to turn over the documents they worked with during the day for safe keeping overnight. The entire convention was held, at Washington’s insistence, with windows closed and window shades drawn so that no one, not the Continental Congress or the press, knew what was taking place at the convention that was called merely to make adjustments to the Articles of Confederation then governing the young nation. When it was all over on the afternoon of Wednesday, September 19th, 1787, when asked by someone what the convention had given the nation, Benjamin Franklin said “…a republic, if you can keep it!” Hence the question: did America become great that day when work on the constitution was complete, on the day the proposed constitution was ratified or was it when George Washington was sworn in as our first president? Any one of those three occasions could reasonably be identified as the first day of America’s greatness. Ah, but could any of that taken place had young Washington not have been forced to assume command of Virginia’s army following General Braddock’s demise in the woods of western Pennsylvania that long ago Tuesday? However, the ultimate question is: does national greatness really mean anything definable let alone tangible?
As I see it, individual greatness has more realistic meaning because it’s easier to establish that: Here stands a great musician! Here stands a great sports figure or singer or a great preacher or parent or doctor etc. One’s achievements can be easily compared and contrasted with another professional’s achievements thereby setting forth a standard of measurement by which to evaluate past precedence and forthcoming innovations.
One of the easiest things for a teacher, a commentator or an historian to do is to minimize the greatness of any historical figure, event or era. I can list several political scandals that occurred in the 1790s and early 1800s, during which our “Founding Fathers” ran the government, but all it would tell you is something you already know — human beings are fallible.
The wisdom of a people is cumulative over time rather than a single lesson learned. If there is such a thing as “American Wisdom,” it wasn’t taught us by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson or even Abraham Lincoln. As I see it, such wisdom, or if you prefer greatness, was born of trial and error, adjustment and revision, guided by experience and application of both reason and conscience.
Whether his name be Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Lincoln, Wilson, Roosevelt, Kennedy, Carter, Reagan, Obama or Trump, when he tells us that he knows the formula for our future greatness, he’s lying to us and we seal our demise if we’re stupid enough to believe him. Insofar as I’m aware, past presidents have hoped that their best judgements and actions just might be “great,” but only one name in the above list has proclaimed his ability to bring about American Greatness.
In his first inaugural address Abraham Lincoln referred to “the better angels of our nature,” but he never identified what or who they are.
It’s possible that an event that takes place or a person born on Monday, July 9th, 2018 could launch a new era of American greatness, but if I were you, I wouldn’t bet the farm on it!
Still, enjoy what you can out of this day. Make it as memorable or “great” in your life as you can. You’re entitled to do exactly that!
After all, America’s greatness is not merely any president’s business - it’s everyone’s business!
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
EDWIN COONEY
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