This is the firm, hallowed ground on which we all can stand. For me, the idea of unity among commonsense Americans, regardless of their voter registration, is not a difficult concept to grasp. Most of my friends and family members are and always have been independent. Combine my social and familial surroundings with the Alaskan spirit of self-reliance with which I was raised, and commonsense unity sort of comes naturally.
It would be wise for us to use the common foundations of our republic and the virtues that sustain it to find a new way forward. Commonsense constitutional conservatism is about rediscovering our founding ideals and striving to be a nation that does justice to them.
As I look forward to the future, I know that my children, and their children, will live in a state and a country that are in many ways different from the ones in which I grew up. We won’t necessarily share the same experiences. But I hope and pray that we share the same bedrock beliefs.
It is our responsibility to preserve and pass on those beliefs. For there are beliefs that define us as Americans. They are the source of our prosperity, our tolerance, our spirit of innovation, and our greatness. They are carved into our foundation stone. They have been defended by the blood of patriots. We can and should debate what they mean and how they are best preserved. We can and should call each other out when we fall short of our beliefs. We can and should always strive to live up to them. But they are still there, eternally defining and guiding the greatest country in the history of the world. And they are what make the citizens of this great country Americans—not by blood, or race, or creed, but by heart. May we always be so.
Acknowledgments
As always, I thank my family, my inspiration. Thank you for circling the wagons and providing generous support. I love you. May God keep shining on you all!
To those who are true friends—you know who you are because you’re still here—plus our good helpers for the kids and tasks at hand, we can’t do anything without you. Thank you!
I could not have written this book were it not for our veterans, our past and present patriots in uniform who are our true heroes. Your protection of our freedom to embrace faith and family under the flag allows America to be exceptional.
Huge appreciation goes to those who tell the truth in the media arena. Those willing to seek and report truth encourage us to keep our heads up and forge ahead. You Commonsense Constitutionalists who take the shots every day (and have been doing it a lot longer than I have) yet you never retreat—keep it up. Freedom depends on you. The same goes for Prayer Warriors lifting up our country. Keep the faith.
I want to thank attorney Robert Barnett and the HarperCollins team for invaluable assistance with this book, with a special thanks to the brilliant, independent self-starter who got her start in Alaska, Jessica Gavora. Thank you for your most important work on America by Heart. We started out on opposing teams on the high school parquet, but our Alaskan roots connected us and shall grow into the influence we believe America can use today. You are an amazing Mama Grizzly.
About the Author
SARAH PALIN is the former governor of Alaska and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling memoir Going Rogue. She grew up in Alaska, where she and her future husband, Todd Palin, graduated from Wasilla High School in 1982. She served two terms on the Wasilla City Council and two terms as the city’s mayor and manager, and then chaired both state and interstate oil and gas commissions. She was elected Alaska’s youngest and first female governor, serving from 2006 to 2009. In 2008 Palin was tapped as Senator John McCain’s running mate, becoming the first female Republican vice-presidential candidate in our nation’s history.
The Palins reside in Wasilla with their five children and one grandson. They enjoy an extended family throughout Alaska and the Lower 48.
Also by Sarah Palin
Going Rogue: An American Life
Credits
Author photograph © 2010 by Deborah Feingold
Jacket design by Archie Ferguson
Copyright
AMERICA BY HEART. Copyright © 2010 by Sarah Palin. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to reprint from the following:
Bill Banuchi, excerpt from “Healthcare for America: A Biblical and Moral Imperative” from http://bill-banuchi.blogspot.com/2009/08/healthcare-for-america-biblical-and.html. Used by permission of Rev. Bill Banuchi, Marriage and Family Savers Institute.
Michael Bowker, excerpt from “The Loudest Cheer” from Reader’s Digest (May 1994). Copyright © 1994 by Reader’s Digest Association, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of the author.
Colleen Carroll Campbell, excerpt from “Pro-Life Feminism Is the Future” from The Washington Post (May 23, 2010). Copyright © 2010 by Colleen Carroll Campbell. Reprinted with the permission of the author, www.colleen-campbell.com.
Mary Kate Cary, excerpt from “The New Conservative Feminist Movement” from U.S. News & World Report (June 23, 2010). Copyright © 2010 by U.S. News & World Report. Reprinted with permission.
Emily Dickinson, “I never saw a moor” from The Poems of Emily Dickinson (Variorum Edition), edited by Ralph W. Franklin. Copyright 1951, © 1955, 1979, 1983 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Reprinted by permission of The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
John Ford, excerpt from “Commander John Ford USNR,” interview (Box 10 of World War II Interviews, Operational Archives Branch, Naval Historical Center).
Robert A. Goldwin, excerpt from “Why Blacks, Women & Jews Are Not Mentioned in the Constitution” from Commentary (May 1987). Copyright © 1987 by Commentary, Inc. Reprinted with permission.
“Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American).” Written by Toby Keith © 2002 Tokeco Tunes (BMI). All rights reserved. Used by permission. International copyright secured.
Martin Luther King, Jr., excerpts from “I Have a Dream” (Washington, D.C., August 28, 1963) and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (April 16, 1963). Copyright © 1963 by Martin Luther King, Jr., renewed 1991 by Coretta Scott King. Reprinted with the permission of The Heirs to the Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., c/o Writers House, LLC.
Kathryn Lopez, excerpt from “If Mama Ain’t Happy, She May Just Run . . . for Office” from National Review (June 13, 2010). Copyright © 2010 by Kathryn Jean Lopez, distributed by Newspaper Enterprise Association.
Max Lucado, excerpts from It’s Not About Me: Rescue from the Life We Thought Would Make Us Happy. Copyright © 2004 by Max Lucado. Reprinted by permission of Thomas Nelson, Inc. Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.
John McCain with Mark Salter, excerpts from Faith of My Fathers. Copyright © 1999 by John McCain and Mark Salter. Used by permission of Random House, Inc.
Charles Murray, excerpt from “The Europe Syndrome and Its Challenge to American Exceptionalism” from The American (March 16, 2009). Reprinted with the permission of The American, www.american.com.
The Onion, “Miracle of Birth Occurs for the 83 Billionth Time” from The Onion (March 3, 1999). Copyright © 2010 by Onion, Inc., www.theonion.com.
Leonard E. Read, excerpt from “I, Pencil: My Family Tree” from The Freeman (December 1958). Published with the kind permission of the copyright holders, the Foundation for Economic Education, www.fee.org.
Reader’s Digest, excerpt from “Sergeant Erwin and the Blazing Bomb: A Story of a Night When th
e Congressional Medal of Honor Seemed to Be a Modest Award” from Reader’s Digest (July 1965). Copyright © 1965 by Reader’s Digest Association, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Reader’s Digest.
Mitt Romney, excerpts from “Faith in America” speech (November 6, 2007). Reprinted with the permission of Mitt Romney.
Karl Shapiro, excerpt from “Elegy for a Dead Soldier” from The Wild Card: Selected Poems, Early and Late (University of Illinois Press, 1998). Copyright 1944, © 1971 by Karl Shapiro. Reprinted by permission of Harold Ober Associates, Incorporated.
Gayle C. Shirley, excerpt from More Than Petticoats: Remarkable Colorado Women. Copyright © 2002 by Morris Book Publishing. Reprinted by permission of The Globe Pequot Press.
Eunice Shriver, speech at the opening of the first Special Olympics (1968). Reprinted with the permission of the Special Olympics, www.specialolympics.org.
Margaret Thatcher, excerpt from “Speech to Conservative Party Conference” (October 10, 1980). Copyright Lady Thatcher. Reproduced with permission from www.margaretthatcher.org, the website of the Margaret Thatcher Foundation.
James Q. Wilson, excerpt from “The Family Way” from The Wall Street Journal (January 7, 2003). Reprinted with the permission of the author.
EPub Edition December 2010 ISBN: 9780062026866
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Sarah Palin, America by Heart
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