1) The unexamined life is not worth living. In other words, it is undignified, not really honorable, simply to live from day to day without ever asking oneself "What am I doing here? Why am I living as I am?" To be truly and completely human, Socrates thought, each man and woman must subject his or her life and convictions to the test of critical self-examination. What is more, my means of this process of self-examination, one can achieve genuine happiness.
2) There really are valid principles of thought and action that must be followed if we are to live good lives - if we are to be, at the same time, genuinely happy and genuinely good. These principles are objective - they are true for all men and women, whenever and wherever they may live. Some people are unjust, self-indulgent, obsessed with worthless goals, estranged from their fellow men and women, confused and blind about what is truly important. These people do not know that certain things are beneath notice, unimportant. They are terrified of shadows, incapable of living or dying with grace. Such people need to find the truth and live in accordance with it.
3) The truth lies within each of us, not in the stars, nor in tradition, or in religious books, or in the opinions of the masses. Each of us has within, however hidden, the true principles of thinking and acting. In the end, therefore, no one can teach anyone else the truth about life. If that truth were not within you, you would never find it; but it is within you, and only relentless critical self-examination will reveal it to you.
4) Although no one can teach anyone else about the fundamental principles of right action and clear thinking, some people-call them teachers, philosophers, godforsaken ask questions that prod men and women to begin the task of . These teachers may also be able to guide the process, at least in its early stages, because they have been over the same ground themselves and know where the pitfalls are.
The run-up to the 1968 election was transformed in 1967 when Minnesota’s Democratic senator, Eugene J. McCarthy, challenged Democratic Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson on his Vietnam War policies. Johnson had succeeded to the presidency in 1963, following the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and had been overwhelmingly reelected in 1964. Early in his term he was immensely popular, but U.S. involvement in Vietnam, which had escalated invisibly during the presidential administrations of both Dwight D. Eisenhower and Kennedy, became highly visible with rapidly increasing U.S. death tolls, and, as the war’s unpopularity mounted, so did Johnson’s.
The correct answer to this open question is the following.
One major difference between Ellis’s and Meacham’s historical interpretations of how Thomas Jefferson came to approve the Louisiana Purchase is the following.
For historian Joseph J. Ellis, the issue was the way President Thomas Jefferson proceeded to but the Lousiana territory to the French, knowing that he could have been going beyond his powers as the head of the executive branch. The question for historian Ellis is not that his decision over the territory was right, but the way he implemented that decision that challenged his powers as President. Thomas Jefferson had big hopes that the next step for the American government was in the conquest of the western part of the United States.
For historian John Meacham, the way President Jefferson acted during the Louisiana purchase saga was decisive, trying to protect the Louisiana territory from the Europeans. Meacham thinks that Jefferson never hesitated to exert his power in this particular and special case to defend the sovereignty of the United States. Probably, in other kinds of decisions, Jefferson would have acted differently, more passively, but not in the case of the Louisiana purchase.
Thomas Jefferson's presidency had an enormous affect on America's national identity. One of the biggest contributions made by Jefferson was his focus on limiting the size and scope of the federal government. Minimizing the power of the federal government is one trend that other presidents do follow and continue to follow to this day.
The War of 1812 also shaped America's national identity. This war against the British resulted in the US showing their military strength/determination by holding off the British from taking back control of America. This also was the first military conflict against a country after the creation of the US Constitution. This helps to develop the idea that America will be a country that stands up against nations who they feel are threatening our way of life.
