
Books, What's So Great About America (2003)
Source: The World Teacher for All Humanity (2007)
Books, What's So Great About America (2003)
First Message to the U.S. Department of Defense
Context: It’s good to be back and I’m grateful to serve alongside you as Secretary of Defense. Together with the Intelligence Community we are the sentinels and guardians of our nation. We need only look to you, the uniformed and civilian members of the Department and your families, to see the fundamental unity of our country. You represent an America committed to the common good; an America that is never complacent about defending its freedoms; and an America that remains a steady beacon of hope for all mankind. Every action we take will be designed to ensure our military is ready to fight today and in the future. Recognizing that no nation is secure without friends, we will work with the State Department to strengthen our alliances. Further, we are devoted to gaining full value from every taxpayer dollar spent on defense, thereby earning the trust of Congress and the American people. I am confident you will do your part. I pledge to you I’ll do my best as your Secretary. MATTIS SENDS
2016, Howard University commencement address (May 2016)
Context: Racism persists. Inequality persists. Don’t worry — I’m going to get to that. But I wanted to start, Class of 2016, by opening your eyes to the moment that you are in. If you had to choose one moment in history in which you could be born, and you didn’t know ahead of time who you were going to be — what nationality, what gender, what race, whether you’d be rich or poor, gay or straight, what faith you'd be born into — you wouldn’t choose 100 years ago. You wouldn’t choose the fifties, or the sixties, or the seventies. You’d choose right now. If you had to choose a time to be, in the words of Lorraine Hansberry, “young, gifted, and black” in America, you would choose right now.
I tell you all this because it's important to note progress. Because to deny how far we’ve come would do a disservice to the cause of justice, to the legions of foot soldiers; to not only the incredibly accomplished individuals who have already been mentioned, but your mothers and your dads, and grandparents and great grandparents, who marched and toiled and suffered and overcame to make this day possible. I tell you this not to lull you into complacency, but to spur you into action — because there’s still so much more work to do, so many more miles to travel. And America needs you to gladly, happily take up that work.
2015, Remarks to the Kenyan People (July 2015)
“Let me ask you, do you love your freedom that you have here in America? Well, so do I.”
Keynote address to International Council of Shopping Centers convention, Las Vegas Convention Center, , quoted in * 2010-05-23
Sarah Palin praises free market at Las Vegas convention
Erin
Dostal
Las Vegas Sun
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/may/23/sarah-palin-praises-free-market-las-vegas-conventi/
2014
2010s, Open letter to Khizr M. Khan (31 July 2016)
[Rutz, David, Booker: Things Are ‘Savagely Wrong’ in America, https://freebeacon.com/politics/booker-things-savagely-wrong-america/, 21 August 2018, The Washington Free Beacon, August 3, 2018]
2018
2004, Democratic National Convention speech (July 2004)