Winning the Revolutionary War, or the Civil War, or World War II were the turning points in our history, the sine qua non of our forward progress.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
We were succeeding. When you looked at specifics, this became a war of attrition. We were winning.
What fascinates me are the turning points where history could have been different.
The idea of progress - the notion that human history is the history of human betterment - dominated the world view of the West between the Enlightenment and the First World War.
Of all the things we have done, the most important - the one that history will record as the principal contribution of our generation - is that we understand how to turn the armed struggle into a Revolution; that we realized that it was essential to create a new mentality to build a new society.
History is a relay of revolutions.
The American Revolution was, in fact, a battle against the philosophy of Locke and the English utilitarians.
Revolution did not necessarily involve sanguinary strife. It was not a cult of bomb and pistol. They may sometimes be mere means for its achievement.
As in the war of 1941-45, our victory and our survival depend on how and where we attack.
Militarily, we succeeded in Vietnam. We won every engagement we were involved in out there.
All the political movements of our country that have hitherto played any important role in our modern history had been lacking in the ideal at the achievement of which they aimed. Revolutionary movement is no exception.