This weekend was a good one for the cult following of Secretary of Defense James Mattis (for the record, I consider that cult following to be a good thing).
Saturday Mattis delivered a commencement speech to the West Point graduating class, full of the encouragement, determination and realism one expects from Mattis. He complimented the cadets for their lethality and call to “ethically and fiercely to defend our experiment that you and I call simply, America.”
On Sunday an interview with Mattis aired on Face the Nation. “What keeps you awake at night?” host John Dickerson asked Mattis.
“Nothing,” Mattis responded. “I keep other people awake at night.”
In a time where terrorism seems to be on the rebound and communications through the government may seem conflicted, on has to appreciate Mattis for his consistency. I may be biased, but I don’t think you can listen to the man speak without feeling both more confident in America’s security and sit a bit prouder as an American. Mattis is respected because he both speaks his mind, speaks with confidence, but also has an incredible understanding of foreign policy.
Mattis at West Point
Mattis’ West Point speech touched on the recent terror attack in Manchester, an event that highlighted the importance of this graduating class and the need to continue to maintain our American military dominance. He noted that today’s graduating class had every reason to choose a different career path. That they chose military service is to be commended.
“By the time this class was in first-grade classrooms in every state across our union,” Mattis said, “Our country had been thrust into a war by maniacs who thought that by hurting us they could scare us. Well, we don’t scare, and nothing better represents America’s awesome determination to defend herself than this graduating class.”
“Every one of you could have opted out. You’d grown up seeing the war on round the clock news. There was no draft. Colleges across this land would have moved heaven and earth to recruit you for schools which would never make such demands on you as West Point.”
Mattis highlighted the class motto, ‘So others may dream.’ It speaks to the optimism Mattis and the graduating class share – America is not defined by terrorism. It has a unique identity established through the blood, sweat and tears of America’s armed forces.
“We must never permit murderers to define our time or warp our sense of the normal. This is not normal,” said Mattis.
