Thomas Jefferson Memorial

My wish is that the next President of the United States would require every Congressperson and every member of his or her cabinet to spend a week touring our nation’s capital. They would be required to read every quotation at the memorials and monuments to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln. They would need to walk through the Vietnam Memorial and speak to the veterans they see. Some hours in the Holocaust Memorial Museum would be another requirement, along with a trip to Mount Vernon and Arlington Cemetery. In the course of their first term in office each senator or representative would make it a point to visit each building of the Smithsonian. Having completed this tour, everyone would be imbued with the principles of democracy and the inspiration that has inspired the world. Our leaders would realize Thomas Jefferson’s words: “In matters of principle stand like a rock,” and they would know “action will delineate and define you” (quotations from the Thomas Jefferson Memorial).