As Biden draws near the end, he talks about the portrait of Washington resigning his commission that hangs in the Capitol.
The mob that attacked the Capitol on January 6th, waving Trump flags and Confederate flags, stormed right past the portrait. The image of George Washington gave them no pause—but it should have.
The artist who painted the portrait memorialized this moment because he said it was “one of the highest moral lessons ever given to the world.”
George Washington was at the height of his power having just defeated the most powerful empire on Earth. He could have held onto that power as long as he wanted. But that wasn’t the America he and the American troops of Valley Forge had fought for.
In America, our leaders don’t hold on to power relentlessly. Our leaders return power to the people—willingly. You do your duty. You serve your country. And ours is a country worthy of service. We are not perfect, but at our best, we face head-on the good, the bad, the truth of who we are. That’s what great nations do, and we are a great nation— the greatest of nations. We really are.
That’s the America I see in our future.
We get up. We carry on. We speak of possibilities—not carnage. We’re not weighed down by grievance. We don’t foster fear. We don’t walk around as victims. We take charge of our destiny.
We get our job done—to help people find their place in a changing world and dream and build the future that all people deserve a shot at.
We don’t believe America is failing. We know America is winning. That’s American patriotism.
