ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, it is fitting to turn to the Declaration of Independence for the key to America. It lies right in that powerful statement:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

America is an exceptional nation because it is founded on an idea more than on a group of people.