Naeem Afzal
This July the U.S. celebrated its 250th birthday. In its life of 250 years, it has been a constitutional democracy without any pause. For 130 years, it has been the world’s largest economy in the world. For 81 years, it has been the most powerful force on the planet. It has led the world in global innovation, technological progress, and modern military contests. It helped build the multilateral alliances, great institutions: the UN, NATO, the IMF, and the World Bank all owe their existence to the spirit of cooperation the American democracy sponsored all over the world.
Now, what is the cause of this remarkable success of America in the history of countries? Often, some scholars attribute this success to liberal democracy and free-market capitalism, and some include the democratic system predicated on participatory governance. However, the latter is significant among other causes, such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and emphasis on seeking worldly knowledge and happiness.
But I believe it is the great historical leadership that made America Great in the world. Read the life of the first American president, George Washington, and you’ll know the causes behind the rise of America. The Reader’s Digest Magazine, in the Biography of George Washington, writes, “He got his country’s independence from the British Empire, and as he was about to leave the army, Washington wrote, ‘Having no reward to ask for myself, if I have been so happy as to obtain the approbation of my countrymen, I shall be satisfied.'” ‘ It still rests with them to complete my wishes by adopting such a system of policy and glory for this extensive Empire.
Conquests may give rise to nations, but the “System of Policy” is the only thing that keeps them alive. All the courage and the suffering of the war might be lost in the confusion of a peace without policy or system. Washington, before retirement to Mount Vernon, wrote to Friends that ‘something must be done or the fabric must fall….” His practical sense, bold vision, conservatism—all these pervade the constitution of this great empire.
He dressed richly in velvet, rode in a six-horse coach, and felt himself the equal of any king on earth. But he always thought of himself as the Most Obedient and Humble Servant. He lived only two years after his second term ended. In his last moments of consciousness, he said, “I die hard.”
And so he has.
