Sublime

A social conservative by instinct and upbringing, he did more to alter the relationship between ordinary citizens and their government than any other American.

But this ignores the astonishing achievement of the Framers in Phil­adelphia. The American Declaration became the ultimate preamble to the Constitution, in that the entire structure of government was designed to protect the rights and freedoms it proclaimed. Moreover, both documents were fully embraced by the moral custodians of the revolution, the

“We shall strive for perfection,” Roosevelt said. “We shall not achieve it immediately—but we still shall strive.

could see people laughing and hugging, waving flags to the beat of a song by country artists Brooks & Dunn that had become a staple on the campaign trail: “Only in America.”