Heroes

Earlier this week I was in Charlottesville, Virginia learning much about an America hero, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson was certainly a very impressive man in spite of his epoch consistency on slavery and women. He was after all a farmer, a surveyor, a lawyer, a planter, a writer, a collector, an innovator, an amateur agronomist, a Governor of Virginia, a diplomat, a Secretary of State, a Vice President under John Adams, our third President, the drafter of the Declaration of Independence, the builder of Monticello and the designer of the University of Virginia. No doubt a Renaissance man who did much in his 83 years. Among other things, he wrote over 90,000 letter in his lifetime, perhaps making him a "blogger" of the 18th and 19th centuries. He can be credited with being the de facto founder of the Democratic Party (although in those days it was known as the Republican Party, no doubt still much to the confusion of 12 year old school boys throughout the country), and creating an American political idea which dominated until about 1860. He was over 6'2'' so if there had been basketball in those days he probably would have also been the Bill Russell of his day.

My heroes have only been three: Mickey Mantle, Milton Friedman and Ronald Reagan. Perhaps Jefferson never made it into my pantheon because I perceived him to be a Democrat and maybe, just maybe, I should reconsider. Clearly Friedman and Reagan were conservatives but what is known of Mantle and his political proclivity? Not much, but I think we can stipulate he was conservative: an Oklahoman, a country boy, a white male, a drinker, a New York Yankee center fielder (akin to being an IBMer), a Hall of Fame player, a resident of Dallas. That's probably enough. Plus he won the Triple Crown in 1956!

So I have these three heroes; and now I contemplate adding a fourth. But a Democrat? I think for the time being I will confine old Tom Jefferson to a separate category to be labelled in oxymoron fashion "Liberal Heroes." Who might be added to this group? Certainly not Obama, Clinton, Carter. Not even JFK based now on what we continue to learn of his sexual exploitations. Maybe Scoop Jackson but definitely not Wilson nor FDR. Truman? ML King? Maya Angelou? Karl Marx would, I think, be much too liberal. No, for the time being Jefferson will be alone in this category for me. Maybe someone who reads this might have a good suggestion for a hero in this category but until then TJ will proudly stand alone.