One of William F. Buckley’s later books was titled simply Gratitude, which is, when you think about it, one of the cardinal conservative virtues. The spirit of gratitude was amply on display this past week at a symposium jointly sponsored by the Bradley Foundation and the Hudson Institute titled “True Americanism: What It Is and Why It Matters.” Spoiler alert: It matters.

Panelists took as their starting point an indispensable new book by Leon and Amy Kass and Diana Schaub called What So Proudly We Hail, a selection of stories, songs, and speeches about “the American soul” that should become the Book of Virtues for patriots. From the Mayflower Compact to Flannery O’Connor, and from Ralph Ellison to George S. Patton Jr., this collection ranges across American history, lighting upon the words that have shaped and reflected us. Whether we continue to cherish the uniqueness of America was one of the questions tackled by the panel, which included Charles Krauthammer, Prof. Robert George of Princeton, Daniel Henninger of the Wall Street Journal, and Sen. Lamar Alexander, among others.

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