During the opening of Restoring Love, Glenn spoke of a conversation he had with his daughter about American history. How it was brutal and bloody - far from the idealized version that he had presented to them growing up. He was shocked, and wondered what it meant when he of all people could not get his children to understand the inherent exceptionalism rooted in American history. So he decided to go back and do his own homework, and what he learned changed the course of his life. He came to understand brutalities in America's past - such as horrible period of Manifest Destiny and Japanese Internement, but he also reconnected with the good.
Along the way on this journey, Glenn met incredible historians and collectors who had original documents and historical artifacts that had been lost and forgotten over time. He found things that were no longer being taught in school. He read them, he touched them. He experienced a deep connection to the past that gave him a new perspective on the present and future.
And now he wants to share that experience with his audience.
It started at Restoring Love, when Glenn let audience members hold a multimillion dollar Honus Wagner baseball card and Eisenhower's helmet. It continued on GBTV Monday night as he brought out a collection of amazing pieces: Arnold Friburg’s painting of George Washington praying at Valley Forge, Gettysburg Log, General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s helmet, Babe Ruth’s traveling luggage, Abraham Lincoln’s desk and chair from the IL State House, The manifesto of John Wilkes Booth, Honus Wagner baseball card, and finally President Ronald Reagan’s letter to his daughter, Patti.
You can read an in-depth analysis of these pieces on TheBlaze.
All of the pieces represented something unique and special about American history. The Honus Wagner card, for example, showed the importance of standing for one's beliefs. The card featured a tobacco ad, but smoking was against his faith and convictions and he demanded production on the card be stopped. It's now worth over $2 million.
Meanwhile, the Lincoln desk and the Eisenhower helmet showed men who stood up for and fought for freedom, one at home and one abroad.
“The helmet tells us that somebody fought for somebody else’s freedom,” Glenn said.
“It’s not enough to fight for our [own]. Freedom belongs to all mankind and there has to be a country that will stand up," he added.
WATCH Glenn present the Honus Wagner card and the Eisenhower helmet to audience members at Restoring Love below:
He ended the segment by reading a letter from Ronald Reagan to his daughter Patty:
Dear Patti
It was good to hear from you. As the song goes – ‘the days dwindle down to a precious few.’ In view of my recent birthday I find the song appropriate. Patti I think a talk between us is the answer to some of our differences. There are extremists on both sides of every issue. Reasonable people should look into both sides and see if every charge or countercharge is justified by the facts. Even if there are differences does this justify a family separation? We can disagree on things without abandoning our family relationship. I remember a little girl who sat on my lap and asked me to marry her. Love – Dad.”
“Share this with your neighbors who might disagree with you,” he concluded. “We are not extremists and we are a family as a nation. We have to come together on the things that do unite us.”
