Political Quotes

“The most noteworthy part of the celebration in which Americans of Greek descent yearly participate has to do, in my judgment, with the historical partnership of the American democracy and the way our country, the United States, gained its independence, and that which followed in the 1820's when the Greek nationals began their movement for independence. What was the common bond that the American institution of independence had with its later Greek movement for independence in the 1820's? It was their own Greek heritage. That is, the ideals of democracy and self-government which were first practiced by the classical Greeks were the foundation for the Jeffersons and Madisons and the Adamses and the Washingtons as they moved strenuously to bring their country into a mode of freedom. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution that followed all were based in the authorship of the American Founders themselves, founded on the principles of classical Greek democracy, Athenian democracy.”