America’s Leaders supported the Jewish people long before there was a modern state of Israel. Since the founding of the Jewish state, most of our presidents have been staunch supporters of Israel. Here is some of what our nation’s leaders had to say about Israel.
John Adams felt strongly about the influence of the Jews on western nations, writing: “I will insist that the Hebrews have done more to civilize men than any other nation. If I were an atheist, and believed in blind eternal fate, I should still believe that fate had ordained the Jews to be the most essential instrument for civilizing the nations. If I were an atheist of the other sect, who believe, or pretend to believe that all is ordered by chance, I should believe that chance had ordered the Jews to preserve and propagate to all mankind the doctrine of a supreme, intelligent, wise, almighty sovereign of the universe, which I believe to be the great essential principle of all morality, and consequently of all civilization.”
President Woodrow Wilson
felt strongly that the ancient Hebrews set the standard for the unfolding United States of America: “Recalling the previous experiences of the colonists in applying the Mosaic Code to the order of their internal lives, it is not to be wondered that the various passages in the Bible … [were] held up before the pioneer Americans the Hebrew Commonwealth as a model government.… In the spirit and essence of our constitution, the influence of the Hebrew Commonwealth was paramount in that it was not only the highest authority for the principle, ‘that rebellion to Tyrants is obedience to God,’ but also because it was in itself a divine precedent for a pure democracy.”
Calvin Coolidge, believing the Jewish faith to predominately be the faith of liberty, praised the vast contributions of the Jews to the American Revolution. Among those he honored was Haym Salomon, born in Poland, and made a prisoner by British forces in New York. After escaping, he set up in business in Philadelphia. He negotiated with Robert Morris [the superintendent for finance in the Thirteen Colonies] all the loans raised in France and Holland, pledged his personal faith and fortune for enormous amounts, and personally advanced large sums to such men as James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Baron Steuben, General St. Clair and many other patriot leaders, who testified that without his aid they could not have carried on in the cause.
President Teddy Roosevelt
praised the contributions of Jews to the American nation: “I am glad to be able to say, in addressing you on this occasion, that while the Jews of the United States, who now number more than one million, have remained loyal to their faith and their race traditions, they have become indissolubly incorporated in the great army of American citizenship, prepared to make all sacrifice for the country, either in war or peace, and striving for the perpetuation of good government and for the maintenance of the principles embodied in our constitution. They are honestly distinguished by their industry, their obedience to law, and their devotion to the national welfare.”
At the end of the Second World War, Harry S. Truman, the 33rd president, openly declared his support in favor of the Jewish people: “This is the time for action. Today—not tomorrow—we must do all that is humanly possible to provide a haven and place of safety for all those who can be grasped from the hands of the Nazi butchers. This is not a Jewish problem, it is an American problem—and we must and we will face it squarely and honorably.” Truman strongly supported the rebirth of Israel. He later said: “One of the proudest days of my life occurred at 6:11 p.m. on Friday, May 14, when I was able to announce recognition of the new State of Israel by the government of the United States. In view of the long friendship of the American people for the Zionist ideal, it was particularly appropriate that our government should be the first to recognize the new state.”
President Ronald Reagan, in a great show of support for the Jewish people once said: “Since the foundation of the State of Israel, the United States has stood by her and helped her to pursue security, peace, and economic growth. Our friendship is based on historic moral and strategic ties, as well as our shared dedication to democracy. The people of Israel and America are historic partners in the global quest for human dignity and freedom. We will always remain at each other’s side.”
Thomas Jefferson received a letter from Mordecai Manuel Noah on the occasion of the dedication of a building at the Mill Street Synagogue in New York City—the oldest synagogue in America, having been founded in 1730. In response Jefferson wrote a reply expressing his sympathy at the persecution Jewish people had faced, and highlighting the vital importance of religious freedom. Jefferson said, “Sir, I thank you for the discourse on the consecration of the Synagogue in your city, with which you have been pleased to favor me. I have read it with pleasure and instruction, having learnt from it some valuable facts in Jewish history which I did not know before. Your sect by its sufferings has furnished a remarkable proof of the universal spirit of religious intolerance in every sect, disclaimed by all while feeble, and practiced by all when in power. Our laws have applied the only antidote to this vice, protecting our religious, as they do our civil rights, by putting all on an equal footing. But more remains to be done, for although we are free by the law, we are not so in practice; public opinion erects itself into an Inquisition, and exercises its office with as much fanaticism as fans the flames of an auto-da-fé [public penance prescribed for condemned heretics].”
