Happy Birthday to US

What a Golden Age!

Dear Friend,

I am blessed with so many great colleagues over my career. Amazing. My new colleagues in the US Pardon Attorney’s Office are the same. Great!

Please see my email below - I sent it to my colleagues just before the 4th of July. A few hours after that email, President Trump gave a great speech in Iowa. I hope you watch it here.

All the best.

Ed

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From: Martin, Edward Jr. (PARDON) <Ed.Martin@usdoj.gov>

Sent: Thursday, July 3, 2025 5:05 PM
To: All PARDON COLLEAGUES
Subject: Best wishes for Independence Day

Dear Colleague,

Later this evening, President Donald J. Trump kicks off a year-long celebration of America’s 250^th year with a visit and speech at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. It promises to be a memorable speech. The President calls this year-long celebration America250 and he’s especially encouraging us to highlight American exceptionalism.

America is exceptional. While most other nations are defined by their boundaries or ethnicity, from our beginning America is defined by our values and ideals as well as by our constant drive to meet the expectations of these values and ideals. Ours was a special founding and it’s been an exceptional nearly 250 year success. America’s success was not guaranteed and even faced long odds.

In fact, there were many doubters who wonder how long this American experiment would last. Some even became famous for talking about a coming demise. Back in the 1800s Alexander Fraser Tytler, author of “Universal History,” wrote: “It is a matter of regret that democracy cannot be permanent. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself.”

He was quickly famous for what is called the Tytler Cycle in which he argued that nations first arise when people in bondage, through spiritual awakening and faith, experience a period of profound courage. This courage moves the people to obtain liberty which leads to flourishing and to abundance. From abundance, Tytler argues, the people slip into selfishness and apathy which leads to dependence. And this finishes off the Cycle as it brings people back to bondage. Destined to fail, that’s how he saw America.

I reject his cycle - it’s too simple and formulaic … plus it’s unAmerican! Tytler was a professor of history and a British Lord but he didn’t know us! He couldn’t even conceive how a society could break the cycle he had documented. But he only observed and studied the Netherlands, the Roman Republic and Athens. Tytler had a prejudice, held almost universally in Europe at that time, that a democracy could never prevail, but our forefathers in 1776 went ahead and did it anyway. But he obviously never knew America and we the people.

Every generation of Americans since our founding has lived the American dream in direct challenge to Tytler’s cycle and we’ve vanquished his cycle to the dusty bookshelf where it belongs. Through faith, courage and liberty, we have created tremendous abundance—and because of our ideals and their monition to us—we have regenerated our democracy through each crisis, always emerging stronger than before. We have not always been perfect as a nation – we’ve got some serious stuff wrong sometimes for a while – but we have always, always fought to make it right. And succeeded in doing so – as we will today.

For 250 years, we’ve defied expectations. Awesome. Historic. Exceptional. American.

I hope you find time this Independence Day - and throughout the next year - to participate in America250. It’s a monumental and exciting celebration of American history, designed to engage communities across the country, create lasting memories and foster a renewed commitment to America’s future.

Thank you for all you do for our work, for each other, and for America. Our Constitution – and in a special way the pardon power – show America at it finest as an instrument of life and goodness.

God bless us all. And God bless America.

All the best

Ed

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