A Son of Liberty

As a child of the late 60s, I’ve never felt comfortable being a "regular" American patriot, although I apparently have the genes. With Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew as our supreme leaders back then, is it any wonder I was jaded? But I must admit Barack Obama is the first politician to get my real attention since JFK. With Mr. Obama firmly in place after an historical election and very moving inauguration, I felt the sprit of a son of liberty and ordered the HBO John Adams miniseries from Netflix. Based on David McCullough's bestselling Adams biography, the series tells it like it is on the brutal path to independence. In a very real way, it explores the life and times of one of America's least understood, and most underestimated, founding fathers: the second President of the United States, John Adams. Adams is one of the primary shapers of our independence and government, but his legacy has often been overshadowed by more flamboyant contemporaries like Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton and Ben Franklin.

So in the spirit of our forgotten founders, let me mention my distant relative John Witherspoon. All my life I have enjoyed bragging that I am related to the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence. (Apparently I'm also related to Reese Witherspoon. She has made the talk show circuit discussing her connection to dear old John) A Scottsman and President of Princeton, Witherspoon was elected to the Continental Congress and in July 1776, voted for the Resolution for Independence and later signed the Declaration. Power to the sons. Right on! - Kendall