Dr's In: Happy Birthday USA

Happy Birthday America! Two hundred and thirty-eight years old and going strong. One cannot deny the power and strength of its constitution; America has survived its worst politicians. Thankfully, there have also been some good ones. One cannot deny the most significant events in US history beginning with the signing of the Declaration of Independence by 56 nervous patriots three years after the Boston Tea Party. Sadly, the future did not treat most signatories kindly.

The Revolutionary war, won by George Washington, the Father of our country, had a reputation for losing every battle. The baby would have been stillborn had it not been for the General Marquis de Lafayette. After saving Washington’s bacon by winning a number of important battles, he went back to France and became a leader of the French Revolution. He remains one of a select number of Generals deemed hero in two countries.

Pennsylvania Governor Morris would head the committee to write the Constitution accomplishing the next large step establishing the Union. James  Madison would author the Bill of Rights. These two documents remain cornerstones of American democracy.

The Civil War, the signing of the emancipation proclamation, then the assassination of Lincoln continues the list of signature events that changed the character and direction of America. Western expansion, the near destruction of Native Americans and the industrial revolution created a great  shame while establishing America as the richest among nations.

The Spanish American War followed by World War I, the Spanish Flu and ultimately the great depression resulted in soup kitchens and poverty for the typical American. Not a nation to shy away from war, World War II guided by the hand of FDR and the new deal elevated us from the great depression.President Truman shocked a world that witnessed the dropping of two atomic bombs on Japan and the beginning of the Atomic Age. Post WWII which many historians argue was just an extension of WWI led America to its greatest era of prosperity.

Alan Shepherd orbits in space. America catches up to the Russian space program. However the joy would lead to tears as President John F Kennedy is assassinated in a Dallas motorcade. Civil rights become the law. America’s mood would turn dark with the escalation of Vietnam and the Johnson Presidency. Happy days again, as Aldrin and Armstrong land on the moon and the Berlin wall falls along with the Soviet Union and the cold war.

Time Magazine calls Saddam Hussein the most dangerous man in the Middle East. Soon the nation would be embroiled in a Middle East war in response to the downing of the Twin Towers in Manhattan and the loss of thousands of innocent civilian lives.

Again the economy would falter, an Afro-American President Barrack Obama would be elected and a political schism evolve that has had a numbing effect on the current need for economic recovery. Political polarization had never reached the levels experienced today. Libertarians and Tea Party Conservatives hold more sway than ever. So many issues remain unresolved as the nation moves forward. Osama bin Laden is killed.

We are a country still involved in warfare in the Middle East, we are a nation that continues to face significant issues of unemployment and pundits from both sides of the political aisle have their own view of the success or failure of the current recovery.

Americans are eternal optimists and if history serves this nation correctly our flexibility and hard work will move us forward to even greater heights of prosperity.

Dr. Marc Yacht, MD is semi-retired and living in Hudson.