What a difference a year makes—or in this case just four weeks since Trump’s inauguration—regarding the state of the nation on Presidents Day. A year ago, the American people were reeling from their freedoms, rights, and opportunities being brazenly stripped away by the Federal Government and its administrative deep state. Most troubling a year ago was the reality of over 1,000 political prisoners in the United States. Presidents’ Day 2025 takes on particular significance because not only did President Trump free the J6 political prisoners as his first order of business, but he has done more than any prior president to forestall the outcomes tied to the specific warnings of Presidents’ Day heroes George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
Washington was the key founder of the United States, the commander-in-chief of the continental army which defeated Great Britain—the greatest military power in the world. Later Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention and was unanimously elected as the first President in 1789. Lincoln was elected as the sixteenth President in 1860 and was the war-time commander-in-chief who presided over the start and the end of the Civil War, which saved the nation from remaining divided and ended the scourge of slavery. In short, Lincoln saved the republic that Washington made possible.
Both Washington and Lincoln were flawed men who made mistakes, but whose remarkable qualities of character were so formidable that they became part of the essence of what we call “American exceptionalism.” Both presidents readily admitted that it was not their own abilities that made the difference but rather their faith, trust and reliance on God that gave them their strength and opened the way for ultimate success.
Washington and Lincoln also agreed that America’s greatest threat to national survival would come from within, rather than from military invasion from a foreign power. What is particularly striking on this Presidents’ Day is that President Trump is aligned more closely with Washington and Lincoln in forestalling internal demise and corruption than almost any prior president.
Washington’s final gift to America was his Farewell Address, calling it “a warning from a departing friend.” It was so profound and in demand that it was reprinted more than the Declaration of Independence. Prophetic in nature, it warned of three sources of internal peril to the American Republic. And these are more relevant now than ever before:
The failure of citizens to be well-informed.
Internal division because of party factions and hyper-partisanship; and
The decline of religious obligation and national morality.
Through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Trump has exposed massive corruption in largely Democrat Party spending programs, which may well end the Democrat Party’s ability to engage in hyper-partisanship.
Trump may not be a moral exemplar, but he is the most pro-religion president in anyone’s memory. President Trump is the first to issue an executive order establishing a dedicated task force to combat “anti-Christian bias” across federal agencies. At the National Prayer Breakfast on February 6, Trump reiterated that he was empowering Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, to lead an effort to “fully prosecute anti-Christian violence and vandalism” in government institutions. At that Prayer Breakfast, Trump said, “If we don’t have religious liberty, then we don’t have a free country.”
Lincoln wanted to prompt Americans to be vigilant by invoking recognition of an enemy within. He said, "if [danger] ever reaches us, it must spring up amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time or die by suicide.” On another occasion, Lincoln said, “The people… are the rightful masters of both congresses and courts—not to overthrow the constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert it.”
In his first four weeks, Trump’s legal team has been more vigorous than any prior administration in prosecuting those who would subvert the Constitution.
After his reelection for a second term, shortly before his assassination, Lincoln observed that “…corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed.”
While he could not have foreseen the transformations in the U.S. economy, Lincoln was remarkably prescient. It is now obvious that the aggregation and concentration of wealth in the information technology, the military/defense, and the pharmaceutical industries today are major factors in undermining our Constitutional First Amendment rights. Free speech, which roots out falsehood and helps reveal the truth, is an absolute cornerstone of the republic.
The “military-industrial complex,” the “medical-pharmaceutical complex,” and the “big tech-information complex” are all in the crosshairs of Trump’s efforts at radical reform. Appointments of Pete Hegseth as the Secretary of Defense, Robert F Kennedy, Jr as the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Pam Bondi as the Secretary of Justice who oversees antitrust are a clear sign that justice and major reforms are coming.
Washington and Lincoln had different personalities, but both had deep faith, wisdom, courage, and persistence. In separate times with different challenges, each was willing to sacrifice his life for the greater good. They both shared a vision of America as a nation grounded in the ideas of the Declaration of Independence that would provide its people the freedom and rights to pursue life, liberty, and happiness. They both believed that if the nation lived up to these ideals, The United States would be a light and beacon of hope for the world. Sounds exactly like the vision of President Trump.
America faces challenges on many more fronts than during the War of Independence or the Civil War. Washington and Lincoln were willing to give their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to establish and save the nation. This Presidents’ Day 2025, we can have restored confidence and gratitude that President Trump is of the same caliber.
Scott Powell is a member of the Committee on the Present Danger China and a senior fellow at Discovery Institute. His timeless book, Rediscovering America, was a #1 Amazon new release in history for eight straight weeks.. Reach him at scottp@discovery.org.
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