1999 Mount Rushmore International Writing Contest Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln: Presidents with Visions for America If they could speak today, what might they say?

1st Place Winner: Adult Rhythmic Prose
Mary K. Reeve
Piedmont, South Dakota

Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt
Patronage

George Washington:
I was your father, attending closely at your violent birth.
I severed the long sustaining cord with Great Britain.
That stroke separated you from the most powerful nation on earth.

Thomas Jefferson:
I cared for you as a newborn and beheld your first toddling steps.
I gave you your independence but gave you a set of principles.
Those principles guided you into your pubescence and beyond.

Abraham Lincoln:
I was there for you during your rebellious adolescence.
I was firm of heart and hand during those trying times.
That stormy ordeal consolidated your strength and resolve.

Theodore Roosevelt:
I was there at your matriculation into the role of world leader.
I mentored your international and internal maturation.
Preservation of democracy and nature became your mantle.

All:
We are still here and watching you from lofty Mountain Rushmore.
We see extreme turbulence in both the present and the future.
Go forward, confident in the foundation we have built for you.

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