Greatest American

A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government. Thus reads the wisdom of Thomas Jefferson – author of the Declaration of Independence, third president of the United States, and a statesman who voiced the hopes of the new America with a passion unique to any other person of his era. As public official, historian and philosopher, he served his country for over five decades, shaping American history.

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, with humility and gentle grit, guided his country through the most heart-wrenching experience in its national history – the Civil War. It is no wonder that he is considered by many historians to have been the greatest American president, as the man's character is told in his own words: "All my life I have tried to pluck a thistle and plant a flower wherever the flower would grow in thought and mind."

Amidst all legend and lore surrounding America's first president, the brilliant statesman George Washington's character emerges in this engagingly narrated audiobook through his own words. In this key speech by the former army general, the qualities of integrity, humility, others-focused mission, and concern for human freedoms are clearly seen – qualities that help define "greatness" and which created a lasting legacy that superseded personal gain and extended to shape a national destiny.

"…a solicitude for your welfare, which cannot end but with my life, and the apprehension of danger, natural to that solicitude, urge me, on an occasion like the present, to offer to your solemn contemplation, and to recommend to your frequent review, some sentiments which are the result of much reflection…and which appear to me all-important to the permanency of your felicity as a people…interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the attachment…"Written near the end of his second term as president, "Washington's Farewell Address," is more than the empty jargon of a politician – it is nothing short of the heartfelt concern of a gentle leader for his people's continuing welfare.