The United States is often described as an imperial power commanding an empire unlike any in history. Like a lot of Americans, I often bristle at that description but there’s some kernel of truth. We have exceeded the common bounds of a “superpower” and are often described as a “hyperpower” because there is no one on Earth who can match us in terms of military might. As Thomas Madden writes:
As you read this, American military might is deployed across the planet. The U.S. Navy is literally larger than all of the other navies in the world combined. The United States military accounts for almost one-half of total global military expenditures. Never before in human history has there been such a disparity in power among sovereign states.
And yet if we are an empire we are singular in lacking imperial desires. Former secretary of state Colin Powell said it best when he rebuked the
archbishop of Canterbury on the claim that our only reason for invading Iraq was to build “a new American empire”. Powell’s reply:
We have gone forth from our shores repeatedly over the last 100 years...and put wonderful men and woman at risk, many of whom have lost their lives, and we have asked for nothing except enough ground to bury them in.
Ever wonder where that ethic came from? I argue that it is inherent in our military and has been from the moment of its creation. George Washington is often described as the “Father of Our Country” but more significantly, he was the father of the US military. Rich Lowry, also at National Review, writes:
[W]hen the war ended, he resigned his command and returned to Mount Vernon. Upon hearing the news, an astonished King George III said, “If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.” Before he did, Washington had a last instance of drama with his Army. Camped in Newburgh, N.Y., at the end of the war in 1783, the Army grew restive because Congress was tardy in paying it. Insurrection was in the air.
In a tense meeting with his officers, Washington told them that in rejecting rebellion, “You will give one more distinguished proof of unexampled patriotism and patient virtue, rising superior to the pressure of the most complicated sufferings; And you will, by the dignity of your Conduct, afford occasion of Posterity to say, when speaking of the glorious example you
have exhibited to Mankind, ‘had this day been wanting, the World had never seen the last stage of perfection to which human nature is capable of attaining.’”The day wasn’t wanting, nor were the men in arms who vindicated the declaration.
We’re not a perfect nation or a perfect people, we’re just the best the world has yet seen. On this Fourth of July, remember the legacy of the men and women who made it so.
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