Music So, whenever you write a story, the storyline has to be clear.

It has to be concise.

So you don't confuse your audience.

And the reverse is also true.

If the audience is confused, it's because they've forgotten the story.

And that's the problem.

We are America, and we've forgotten our own story.

We, the people that brought up from antiquity The concept of rekindling the ancient republics.

We forgot this most amazing story of governments.

America's Story.

Music So we're coming up on a great anniversary, the 250th birthday of the country.

It's a time to celebrate.

And the goal for me is large.

I just want to tell people America's Story And imagine what the next generations could look like.

So how did I get involved?

Well, It's a good story.

Jeff's a friend of mine, and we do "A Prairie Christmas- On Stage" program together.

So I called them up one day and said, Jeff, I got a challenge for you.

Write a show that we can use the rest of the months of the year.

A couple of days later, dropped a script in my lap.

Absolutely blew me away.

So I told "America's Story" a couple of different places and people Really liked it.

And then, Bob, He has this way.

He says, Hey, what if we put it on a really big stage?

And I say, Where?

I say, How about Mount Rushmore?

So that's how we got started.

I told Jeff, We got to get this out.

And he said, How?

And I looked At him and said, You let me take care of that.

We got involved with the presentation at Mount Rushmore Because we are members of the Fife and Drum Corps, which is a marching unit In the shrine Shrine that has the uniform looking like George Washington tri-corner hat Revolutionary War uniform type thing.

And we were asked and we got very excited about it because We thought this would be a perfect match for us to be part there at Mount Rushmore.

And we liked the message that Jeff was going to bring about America.

I can tell you that the Shrine choruses Were thrilled to be part of this presentation, partly Because Jeff Gould is one of our members and his wife is our director.

But more importantly, because of the direct connection We feel to the message that he presented, particularly with relation to the The fact that a number of the Founding fathers Were in fact also members of our fraternity, Most notably George Washington.

And all five of the generals he had under him during the Revolutionary War were all members of the craft.

So the amphitheater at Mt.

Rushmore is fairly large.

We knew Jeff would be center stage with a video screen.

We knew there'd be fife and drum.

We knew there would be chanters.

So all of that plays into our decisions on camera placement.

How many cameras, how many people to operate those cameras?

Doug and I sat down, we talked about it.

We're going to walk the land And we knew how many cameras we had and where to place them.

Do the placement best you can and capture as many angles of the event as you can.

So I asked Bob, what's this going to cost?

And he says, Let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Oh, boy.

It really has become two stories.

America's Story.

And the second one is our story.

It's about telling this story to others about celebrating America's 250th birthday.

They faced opposition.

We faced opposition.

They started with no money.

We started with no money.

But that's okay because I like a challenge.

It's not a speech.

It's a story.

So that's how they decided to stage it.

Well, I can tell you to the person the fife and drum corps Was just So grateful for the opportunity To perform at the base of Mount Rushmore.

But to be a part of this important story, it was something that, You know, no one could really anticipate until you actually were a part of it.

And when we were at it, I tell you that the guys were just all So grateful for the opportunity to be there.

The weather was perfect.

They could have been scorching.

It was the third week of July in South Dakota.

We could have seen temperatures of over 100 degrees.

However, it was cool.

It was pleasant for us to accomplish what we needed to that day.

The presentation you are about to see and experience.

America's Story is popular.

It's powerful, its impact full and very entertaining.

Here to tell you America's story is America's Storyteller, my good friend.

And now yours.

Ladies and gentlemen, Jeff Gould.

Thank you.

Thank you.

What an honor.

What an honor to be here today.

Just look around.

My goodness.

Well, as Bill told you, Stories are my livelihood, But they're more than just entertainment stories are very powerful.

I was talking to A young man about 25 years old, and he was discouraged.

He was talking about all the mistakes He had made in life and all the things he was bad at.

And I said, wait a minute.

What about the things you're good at?

I started describing all the things he was talented at.

And and you're never described by only your mistakes.

Don't possibilities have a part in that?

And then I described all of the obstacles he was likely to face.

And I said, And you have every ability to overcome all of those obstacles.

I think you're going to have a great story.

And that conversation completely Changed his his attitude.

And see, this happens to us sometimes As individuals.

We forget our own story.

It happens to groups of people.

It even happens to countries.

Is it as strange as it may be?

Is it possible that we, The people who rekindle the concept of democracy And change the history of the world have forgotten our own story?

So there's No better place and time than right here and now To tell you America's Story.

I'll be using poems.

We have songs, of course, and some facts from history.

Some of the stuff you've heard and forgotten.

Some may be new to you, but by the time you're done, you will know and embrace and understand America's Story.

You see, for thousands of years, there's been something called this cycle of tyranny.

And it looks like this somebody comes to power And they coalesce the power and then they start to abuse the power And then they become a tyrant And then their tyrant is overthrown And somebody else comes to power and they call this the power And they gather the power and then they become a tyrant.

And the cycle of tyranny has continued for thousands of years.

Sometimes it would take a few years, Sometimes a few generations, but always tyranny replaced by tyranny.

And if you're listening to me and saying, Yeah, that's not right, That's because you're an American.

You see, for thousands of years, it wasn't even a question.

Nobody thought about it.

It's just the way it was.

Might makes right, to the victor go the spoils And you don't like that?

That's because of your inheritance.

Now, maybe somebody has said, you know, You look just like your grandma or your uncle would say something like that.

That is a family inheritance.

Well, you, as an American, also have inherited things And I'm not talking about money and possessions.

I'm talking about character traits that make you uniquely American.

And one of the things that Americans hate Is injustice.

You know, that feeling you get when a bully pushes you down And steals your lunch money and says, what are you going to do about it?

And you hate that.

And you inherited that From an 11 year old boy.

This 11 year old boy Just found out some sad news.

His father has died.

And besides losing his father, he also loses his future Because all of the inheritance goes to his older half brother And he's locked into a system where now he can't travel to go to school Because school is too expensive.

And it just doesn't seem fair because he has So many ambitions.

He does get a job opportunity When he's 15 to be a land surveyor.

His older half brother has married into a wealthy family And the owner of the property is looking to hire some body To survey the lands and he gets the job.

And even that choice is unfair Because of the way he's treated.

He was looked down at.

Why?

Well, The people at the time would have a slang Term for somebody who was super shallow, only interested in their appearance.

They would call them dandies.

And if you were an uncouth hick from the sticks, They'd call you a Yankee Doodle.

And if you were such a dim witted hick, to think That you could take a bird feather and stick it in your hat and think That suddenly you were high fashion, they'd call you a Yankee Doodle Dandy.

They'd sing a song about it with a nasal twang.

Oh, they laughed.

It was so funny And so unfair.

So he gets into farming.

Hmm?

He reads every book he can on the subject and has some successes in this.

And that is also unfair.

You see, he has no choice.

As a farmer, he had to sell all of his products To one buyer and one buyer only, And they would tell him the quality of the product And then they would tell him the price he was going to get.

Yup.

Sorry, it wasn't as high quality as you thought.

It's actually this price.

Oh, yes.

And we sold it at the bottom of the market.

Sorry.

And no, he could not turn his raw materials into finished goods.

That was illegal.

He had to give them raw materials that they would establish The price in exchange, they would give him mediocre Goods, not what he wanted, but what was he going to do about it?

It was good enough for him.

After all, he was he was just a Yankee Doodle.

It was so unfair.

So he decided to do something about it.

Now, honestly, he still had a pretty good life.

He could have just kept his head down.

Just go along to get along just the way it is.

But he said, no, he was going to fight back.

And even though he had virtually no military training, He led a group Of ill trained, cantankerous and divisive, ill equipped men Against the most powerful military in the world.

Talk about risk.

He stuck his head in a noose That the penalty for this is high treason.

They kill you five times, They grab you around the neck and they drag you through the streets Where people spit and throw stuff on you.

Then they put you up on a gallows and they cut out your entrails And they burn your entrails and they hang you And they cut you in four pieces and cut off your head.

That's the penalty for high treason.

And he did it anyway.

And that is your inheritance, right?

Because when you see stuff that's unfair and people say, oh, just forget about it.

It's just the way it is.

You say, No, No.

And so as a nation, we fought against unfairness.

We started with him.

We moved on.

We fight against For voting rights, for religious rights, for labor rights, for ethnic rights.

The courage, the ability to to say whatever you need to, freedom of speech.

You fought for each and all of those things, and you inherited from him.

You had inherited it from George Washington.

He's the one who gave you courage.

And why do I say that?

You inherited it from George Washington.

He did two things that were astonishing.

The first thing He won, How could this rabble, at arms possibly Have defeated the most powerful military in the world?

But.

But he did.

And then, as the general of the army, all the power was in his control.

And then he did the second thing that was completely astonishing.

Look at your history books.

You'll see a guy like this about once every thousand years.

He saw what would Happen if he were to take over.

Eventually he or Somebody else would become a tyrant, And he saw that as unfair.

So he gave the power back to the people That so astonished his enemy.

King George, It absolute astonished Europe and history.

So, this is one of the things we know.

I want you to listen to the words to this song.

This song describes what people thought about Who should be in charge and who should run the show.

God save great George, our King.

Long live our noble king.

God save the king sent him victorious, Long to reign over us.

Happy and glorious.

God save the king.

The words are all about the power coalesced on one person, Then belonging to one.

Now it is no coincidence that when this American experiment started, They kept the song tune And they changed the words and the complete meaning.

Now listen to the words again.

I sang it a long time ago when I was a kid.

I was so young I thought the tis of thee was one word.

Now listen, as if you're Hearing it for the first time and hear how these words Completely change world understanding of possible governments, here.

Liberty, justice and freedom That are part of your inheritance.

My Country tis of Thee Sweet land of liberty Of thee I sing Land where my fathers died Land of the pilgrims' pride From every mountainside Let freedom ring!

My native country thee Land of the noble free Thy name I love I love thy rocks and rills Thy woods and templed hills My heart with rapture thrills Like that above Our fathers' God, to thee Author of liberty To thee we sing Long may our land be bright With freedom's holy light Protect us by thy might Great God, our King About the people who started this country would be to talk about them as as people.

So Washington, for example, probably the most remarkable thing About him, his willingness to risk and then his courage To give all of that risk to Congress And simply not take over as a dictator As he was pressured to do by many.

.

Two things It was impactful and hope.

Those are the two words I use to describe it.

It was impactful in the sense, as I was watching the crowd And listening to Jeff Gould talk about the stories and the attributes Of these four men on the Mount Rushmore.

They were moved and some even had tears in their eyes because they were tugging.

He was tugging at the heartstrings of America And how we got started and where we're at now.

And the hope came In, the fact that these attributes were things That these people in the audience could still do themselves that would help Make America great and relevant and a beacon to other countries.

Here's another piece of something you've inherited.

Dreams.

Now some of us have big dreams To do something or make something or become something.

And this.

This young man over 250 years ago Had a huge dream.

He dreamed of a new form of government, Not new ancient.

The elites of Europe, the intellectuals, had envisioned The possibility of reinvigorating The ancient republics of Greece and Rome.

And this was seen as foolish and very dangerous thinking, Because to give power to anybody less than somebody of high Status would only bring you insurrection and violence.

But this dreamer disagreed with that.

He thought that anybody, regardless of Their class, had the innate ability To set their own course And govern themselves.

And not only did he see that as possible, He saw that as their rights To then pursue happiness, Whatever that looked like.

And then this dreamer did Something very, very dangerous.

He wrote it down On a piece of paper And he signed his name to it.

And 55 other dreamers did the same thing.

And when they did that, They stuck their heads in a noose.

That's high treason.

And you heard the penalty for that.

But that's something about dreams.

That's true, isn't it?

All dreams require risk, And the greater the risk, the greater the dream.

And so they signed their names to this dream.

The other Interesting thing about dreams is that they They have a life of their own.

They tend to grow beyond their original boundaries.

And so this dream that was set down by Thomas Jefferson and other Dreamers Grew and expanded into future generations.

They even built a statue in the largest cities harbor.

And at the base of this statue, there was this poem Bring me your tired, Bring me your poor, Bring me your huddled masses Yearning to breathe free The wretched refuse Of your teeming shores Bring these The homeless tempest tossed to me I lift my lamp Beside the golden door.

The light of liberty Cast a dream around the world and people all over the world Heard it.

And they started calling it The American Dream.

Now, do you understand that there is no British dream or German Dream or French dream or or Russian dream or Chinese dream?

But there is the American Dream And it still is alive and well today.

And the dream sometimes looks like this.

People take great risk to come here To pursue that American dream.

Some people are already here And they dream of making this country better.

And some people hear the dream in the country that they are in And strive to make their country better.

Such is the power of a dream.

Some of these dreamers are famous.

Thomas Jefferson.

Martin Luther King.

Some of these are are very common.

Maybe you've never heard of them, but you've heard their dreams before.

I was talking to a man who came here with $3 in his pocket from Greece.

He said, when I Got here, they said, listen, if you're hungry And if you're cold, get a job in a restaurant as a cook And then you'll never be hungry and you never be cold.

And when he told me that version of the story, His American Dream at that time, he owned Three restaurants.

You see the dream.

The American dream is not available everywhere, But it is available here.

And you can hear it in the voices of people You meet on the street when they speak with a heavy accent.

You are listening to the accent of a dreamer Who took great risk to come here, Maybe was to pursue a dream, maybe it was just to escape Violence and persecution in their own country.

But they came here and you gave that dream to them.

Out of curiosity, are there Any people here who are first generation Americans?

Raise your hand.

Welcome home.

This is called the Shrine to Democracy.

There's a man up there in an orange shirt.

I was talking to the curator, the superintendent, And she said, People come here all the time Just to see this image that you're looking at right now.

And a man Came from Romania with his family And with great emotion.

He looked at what you're seeing right now And he reached into his pocket Where there was a picture.

He must've clipped it out of a magazine somewhere.

It was folded and refolded And tattered and torn.

And he pulled the picture out it and unfolded it And held it up.

And the picture was of Mount Rushmore.

And with tears Streaming down his cheeks, he said, We made it.

We made it.

The dreams that you have Are also Your inheritance.

Thomas Jefferson.

Absolutely brilliant.

Five languages.

A poet, an inventor, an architect, a naturalist.

But his real genius was people and how he could engage With people in a way that made them the center of the conversation And absolutely faulted.

You could fill a dumpster with all of the stuff Written by him and all the Founding Fathers.

And if you wanted to, you could only pick out the bad things.

I think it's more important to read as much of all of it as you can And then take notes and see what you can learn personally From these people who did such great things.

So as filmmakers, we focus on our craft, so we're looking through Viewfinders and lenses to capture emotion.

What we saw that day was extremely powerful.

I mean, you could hear the people around you gasp and sigh And react to the story that Jeff was Talking about that day.

Sacrifice.

And you inherited that from a dirt poor boy.

And he never talked about his childhood, Didn't want to, avoided the topic.

It is believed that he was born on the dirt Floor of a log cabin And with great sacrifice He did teach himself and advance himself and persevere Until finally he climbed to the pinnacle of politics.

And then having achieved all of that, He sacrificed it again.

He sacrificed his health, His wealth, his reputation, his safety.

And his life To the cause That this nation he loved needed the change in two important ways.

If it Was to face its potential on the world stage, It needed to eradicate The evils of slavery within its country.

And if we were to survive against foreign empires, we needed to be A stronger nation where all citizens Were held to a higher standard of humanity.

And when he came into Office, the common title for the president Was president of these United States.

And by the time he left office, he was known as Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States.

And his sacrifice is also your inheritance.

You see, whenever you see people treated poorly, you feel the need to sacrifice.

Whether that's a check in the mail or a vote Or a decision to go yourself When you see injustice and poverty, You join a group, you sign a petition, you give your time, Your talents, your money to to do something about that and sacrifice.

And this sacrifice is millions of stories deep In the story.

I'll tell you now A German immigrant who knew much Suffering and sorrow in his life, Yet the story he was most prone to tell Was when he was dying And a stranger Cradled it in his arms and took his canteen And gave him a drink of water Through parched and cracked lips.

And that American GI and others liberated That man from concentration camps in Germany.

He did not ever learn the name of that American soldier, But he never forgot the sacrifice That America made.

Are there any People here who are in the military now or who have served in the military?

Would you please stand, please?

Yeah.

So here here is what we know.

When you serve in the military, you sacrifice.

Maybe it's peeling potatoes, or maybe it's typing reports.

Or maybe it's changing oil in a motor pool.

But you give, two years of your life Away to this country.

Some of you give four years of your life Away to this country.

Some who cannot be here today Gave their life To this country.

And without your sacrifice, This American experiment would not be here today.

Thank you For your sacrifice.

So if you want to know About sacrifice, ask a parent right?

All parents know that they will sacrifice for their children.

And when they do that, they love their children more.

And that makes them sacrifice even more.

So really interesting that veterans have a deeper level Of love and sacrifice than the rest of us can understand.

And if you want an example of that, Ask somebody in the military Why they are issued two dog tags.

And the answer they give You will tell you the depth of their willingness To sacrifice.

Not just those of you here Now millions of Americans, Men and women throughout the 250 odd years have sacrificed And given their blood, sweat, tears, And it has soaked into your soul.

And it is part Of your inheritance.

Tell my father that his son Didn't run or surrender That I bore his name with pride As I tried to remember You are judged by what you do While passing through As I rest in fields of green Let him lean On my shoulder Tell him how I spent my youth So the truth could grow older Tell my father when you can I was a man Tell him we will meet again Where the angels Learn to fly Tell him we will meet as men For with honor did I die Tell him how I wore the Blue Proud and true Through the fire Tell my father so he'll know I love him so Tell him we will meet again Where the angels Learn to fly Tell him we will meet as men For with honor did I die Tell him how I wore the Blue Proud and true Like he taught me Tell my father not to cry Then say "Goodbye" Veterans really resonate with the part about sacrifice.

I mean, it's true.

Without them, we wouldn't be here.

The part about thank you for your service and freedom isn't free.

It's very true.

But it doesn't tell the story as well as Jeff does about sacrifice.

And that part of his presentation.

Well, the crowd was was incredibly diverse.

And every time I looked into the viewfinder And saw anyone from young to old, Their reactions Were, just telling and how how impactful the message That Jeff gave was and how involved they were into the stories they heard.

Well, on the level means In the use of the tools of masonry.

They kind of relate everything to our standing With the universe.

And so when you talk about being on the level, you're on the level As men, everybody's on the same level.

And that's kind of in the principles and the basic principles of masonry, And it's in the basic principles of what the verbiage In our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution.

As a storyteller myself, you know, I work as a journalist.

I also want to become an author.

And my community service initiative during my year as Miss South Dakota is about literacy.

So when I was given the opportunity to come listen to Jeff today, I knew I needed to be here, and I was actually taking notes Of some of the things that he was saying because he would say And I would get chills in my arms.

And I knew those were things I needed to remember.

So it's a pretty cool experience to get to come and listen to him And to see this whole American Storyteller event.

And Providence.

Providence is also your inheritance.

Providence, that's an old word.

What does it even mean?

Well, ask yourself the old philosophical question.

Do you think that God created man Or do you think that man created God?

Well, Americans by and large, believe in Providence, And this is what they would say, that there is a creator Whose ultimate goal is the greatest amount of good To the greatest extent of good to the greatest number for good.

And that on this mysterious And confusing path he is taken, we don't know what's going on.

So we decided instead to trust.

And so we put it on our coins In God we Trust.

While other people would throw up their hands and say, What In the world is going on?

Americans would say, God is going on To do exactly what he is going to do for the greatest amount of good, To the greatest extent, to the greatest number for good.

And why do we believe it?

Because we've seen it.

Look at the origins of our country.

13 colonies scattered up and down the seaboard.

Poor ability to travel.

No military standing up against the greatest force in Europe.

How could this possibly have survived?

And then George Washington, for God's sakes, He gives all the power Back to the people.

How?

When does that happen?

Every thousands of years it happens.

Do you know when he was a young man, he was hired by The British to be a guide in what was then called the French and Indian War.

And they were ambushed.

All officers were shot off their saddle except him.

After.

Afterwards he described it bullets whistling around.

He checked his uniform Four bullet holes in his uniform.

Not a scratch on him.

Hmm.

Years.

Years later, he's sitting around the campfire And an ancient warrior, A native warrior, comes into the campfire and says, I remember you.

I was in that battle.

I was in charge of our native braves.

I told them to shoot you off the saddle.

And we tried.

And we tried and we tried.

And finally it said, Save your bullets.

The Great Spirit must be watching over that one.

And then he pointed at George Washington and said, You will be the leader Of a great nation.

And then he disappeared into the darkness.

Coincidence Or providence?

You sing the national anthem, bombs bursting in air.

This is describing the battle of Fort McHenry, the battle of Baltimore, 100 British ships firing on Fort McHenry.

Here's maybe what you didn't know.

They scored a direct hit.

A bomb crashed through the roof of the Powder magazine And it was a dud.

Those of you who understand military tactics When you hit the Powder magazine, the battle is now over For square miles And it was a dud.

Abraham Lincoln, You know that there was an assassination Attempt on him as he was going to the inauguration.

There was a plot against his life, and he went into a southern city With no Secret Service.

There are plots on his life every day of his life.

Everybody has guns because it's an armed city.

One day he takes the same route to work every day.

One day, a sniper shoots his hat off.

It isn't that Abraham Lincoln died.

It's that he lived long enough to purge this nation of the evils of slavery And unite us into a strong union.

How about Teddy Roosevelt?

Now, not the Civil War, but he did charge up San Juan Hill.

They missed him by this much.

They nicked an ear.

He survived.

He came back a hero.

What was his number one goal?

He was going to go back to his native state of New York And get rid of all the corrupt politicians in that state.

And the political machinery there said this guy is going to be trouble.

This cowboy is going to ruin our gravy train.

What are we going to do to get rid of this kid?

Somebody had a great idea.

Let's get him to take the most ineffectual government office in the world.

Let's get him to become Vice President of the United States.

And so as Americans, We see the fingerprints Of Providence on our country, don't we?

And we see those fingerprints on ourselves.

We seek justice.

We love mercy.

We give with a generous heart The dreams we have and the feeling that we need to sacrifice.

We look in the world and we see the world.

We see evil in the world.

And that bothers us.

And we look at our nation and we see evil.

And that bothers us.

And we see evil in ourselves.

And that bothers us And fills us with desire To become something better.

And that desire you inherit From the son of an oligarch, a sickly kid.

He wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

It was solid gold.

Teddy Roosevelt had everything, But he desired more.

He desired to see improvements and to see the nation progress forward.

Holidays.

Sundays.

Weekends.

A safe place to work for workers.

Reforms in the political machinery and against trusts.

Industry was changed.

The land was changed.

Instead of being a place where you got raw materials.

Teddy Roosevelt was one of those people who said What?

The land, for land sake.

What about its beauty?

Americans are known as innovators.

The world's first national park is in Yellowstone.

1872 Teddy Roosevelt, A naturalist, loved the beauty and saw that it A value far beyond mere dollars and cents.

And he and others pushed, poked and prodded Until there were national parks in all 50 states.

There are over 400 places of beauty in this country, And you're sitting in one of them right now.

Look at this place.

It's sacred.

It's so beautiful.

It's sacred.

Before there was one nation, There was almost 600 nations And tribes in this land.

And they saw this as sacred to just here, all over the place.

They saw sacred things of beauty.

It is.

It is a sign of their devotion to the land.

Native peoples Join the military five times the national average.

Such is their desire to protect what we have the ability to see, Not just for this generation, but for generations to come.

And you have the freedom to go and see it.

A few miles south, you'll see Crazy Horse monument A similar to this, a nation Giving tribute to a hero.

And these are two places And there are thousands and thousands And thousands of more places all throughout this country.

Beauty as far as the eye can see.

Beauty that you are allowed to go to.

I was talking to a man who was from another country.

The astonishing thing when he joined here is he said, you know what?

They let you travel in your country.

I said, Well, what do you mean?

He said, When in my country there are checkpoints within the country, You're not allowed to just go anywhere But in America, you are allowed to go everywhere And see what is here for you and for your children And children's children and grandchildren.

Part of your inheritance Is this beautiful place we call America.

O beautiful for spacious skies For Amber waves of grain For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain America!

America!

God shed his grace on thee And crown thy good With brotherhood From sea to shining sea O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife Who more than self Their country loved And mercy more than life America!

America!

May God they gold refine Till all success be nobleness And every gain divine O beautiful for patriot dream That sees beyond the years Thine alabaster cities gleam Undimmed by human tears America!

America!

God mend thine every flaw Confirm the soul In self-control Thy liberty in law A bishop once described it It's as if God took a slice of heaven and put it here on earth for us to enjoy.

That's what the Black Hills is like.

Being there is indescribable.

You have to experience for yourself.

What I really like about Mount Rushmore is the cracks and the flaws in the images, Because those men were also cracked and flawed, but they still do Great things.

I'd like to think about myself And everyone around us like we are perfectly flawed.

No one is perfect, but gosh darn right, Let's think of where we came from and like where we can go with this.

And somewhere in this journey It is hit me that we as Americans Have become so cynical and so hypercritical that we've lost A lot of our own thread and our own inspiration to move forward.

We need it, man.

We need this story.

We're coming up on the 250th birthday of our nation.

It's a big deal.

Not, many other nations make it this long and no other nation Has had the impact that our nation has had on the entire world.

I just want to tell you one more thing.

That is your inheritance and part of your American Story.

Optimism, Stubborn Optimism.

When this country was first starting, I mean, The inflation was out of control, the money was worthless.

The the government was in hiding for its life.

Military powers marching up and down the seaboard.

Nobody to stop them.

The soldiers had no food.

They had no clothing.

They had no munitions.

They had no hope.

And they went to General George Washington and they said, it's over.

Just take over.

Stop asking Congress for help.

They're not there for you.

Just take what you need so we can survive.

And General Washington said no.

He said no.

He said no with a stubborn optimism.

He said, I will not stoop and become a tyrant.

I will defer to the Congress and we will survive.

And they did.

And then thrive.

And that same stubborn optimism has changed The world to this day.

You your story continues to be a force for change.

You dream, you sacrifice, you desire.

You ask for.

If you can help, you vote.

Petitions.

Grassroots organizations.

School boards.

You name it.

You're out there pursuing what you see as best.

And when people say, Oh, cut it out, forget it.

Quit.

You smile and say, Listen, I'm Just starting and you roll up your sleeves.

You know why?

Because you are just starting.

So we need to work the phones, hit the streets, rule the Internet.

So when the Semi Quincentennial hits, everyone's Going to want to be a part and everyone's going to want to join the party.

But like Teddy Roosevelt said in that famous Arena speech, it's not the critic that counts as The credit belongs to those Who strive valiantly, as he said, who had the best knows at the end.

The triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, At least failed, while daring greatly.

So I like the company.

I've never attended a performance in my life that ended with the national anthem.

Usually it's at the beginning the excitement, the emotion, the energy, The feelings that you had in your heart after listening to America's Story.

You got up off your feet And you sang that national anthem like you've never sang it before.

It was wonderful.

And this one last story.

The country Is less than 40 years old.

It's tough.

The British have landed and sacked Washington, D.C.

They've burned the White House.

It's two and a half weeks ago and people are terrified.

And now they're marching down the seacoast.

It's Baltimore, the Battle of Baltimore.

100 ships on the line poised to fight and.

Francis Scott Key Is there on board one of those enemy ships Trying to to release one of the prisoners.

And all of a sudden, the battle starts And bombs are bursting in air and he can't see anything.

And he's wondering what's going on.

And he's gripping the railing of the ship.

He doesn't know if the country is still going to be there in the morning.

Is the flag still waving In terrible suspense He yurns and has no impact on the result.

This is not a question at the end of a poem.

This is not a question at the end of a song.

It's a question that people are asking today Because all over the world people are still in tyranny.

People are still struggling.

They want to know, is America still there?

Is it still a place where free people Are brave and pour into the world?

And I can't answer that question.

And a president and a political party.

And history can't answer that question.

Only you can answer that question.

Are you in the land of the free where you are Free to use your skills and gifts to pour and sacrifice?

And are you brave enough to do it?

And if the answer is yes, then stand up.

Take off your hats.

Put your hand over your heart, and sing with us.

So people all over the world can have hope in America's Story.

O say can you see By the dawns early light What so proudly we hailed At the twilight's last gleaming Whose broad stripes and bright stars Through the perilous fight O'er the ramparts we watched Were so gallantly streaming?

And the rockets' red glare The bombs bursting in air Gave proof through the night That our flag was still there.

O say does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave O'er the land of the free And the home of the brave It works like this.

When we raise enough money, we hit the road.

We have a 501 C3 set up.

Now our goal is to push the story out to schools and assemblies and fairs And conventions and YouTube until all 333 Million Americans see it.

And you know why?

Because I sure do like the story.

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