The future of the American idea is clouded by the fact that the proof of its success was never intended to be conclusive. No plan for free government was found, or even attempted, that did not depend on the virtue of each generation entrusted with it. We in our time will not succeed through slavish devotion to “our fathers” (as Lincoln called them), and by the same token, our principles having been designed to be flexible, there is no need to depart…… More »