Experience the American dream with today’s Patriot of the Past interview. I’m your host, John Gillespie.
It’s November 28, 1800. I’m in the newly opened White House with its first occupant President John Adams.
JG: “Mr. President, sir, what are your thoughts about our new president’s house?”
JA: “Mr. Gillespie, I pray to heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof.”
Years later, President Roosevelt was so impressed with this prayerful expression of President Adams he had the words carved into the mantelpiece of the White House State Dining Room.
Read more about the history of the White House.
John and Jan Gillespie are the founders of the Rawhide Boys’ Ranch; they have fostered 351 teenagers and wrote the book Our 351 Sons; they have also assisted numerous churches in developing youth programs and expanding their total church ministries. After running for U.S. Senate, John founded 1776 American Dream, which exists to demonstrate the vision of our founding fathers and help our generation of youth passionately embrace those values.
