United

I celebrate ideals of individual excellence, self-reliance, and personal responsibility. These are values that were instilled in me by my mother and father, and modeled for me by a loving community of elders. I hold these values deeply. But rugged individualism alone did not get us to the moon. It did not end slavery, win World War II, pass the Voting Rights Act, or bring down the Berlin Wall. It didn’t build our dams, bridges, and highways, or map the human genome. Our most lasting accomplishments require mutual effort and shared sacrifice; this is an idea that is woven into the very fabric of this country.