These three kings.

• Author: Emord, Jonathan W.
• Position: USA Yesterday

FEW PEOPLE in American history have risen to national prominence in service to a great cause while also delivering oratory and rhetoric so profound as to transform the hearts and minds of people the world over. Martin Luther King Jr. is just such a transformational figure. He stands shoulder to shoulder with Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln in that regard. Like King, Jefferson's and Lincoln's rhetoric transcend the ages and propound lasting truths of undeniable force.

Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, in a few short sentences, encapsulated the definition of just government: "We hold these Truths to be self-evidence, 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, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." The rhetoric is profound, deeply meaningful, and establishes for all time the standard to which a free people must repair.

Lincoln's every speech contains within it rhetoric so profound that it pierces to the heart and mind alike to leave an indelible impression that uplifts and transforms. Who can deny the force of these few words from his second Inaugural Address concerning his unwavering commitment to achieve victory over secession: "Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's 250 years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said 3,000 years ago, so still it must be said, 'The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.'"

Then there are these from that same extraordinary speech reflective of his magnanimity as the Civil War came to a close: "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle...