I am not a native of this land. I come from the very heart of America. . . To those people I am proud to belong, but I find myself today five thousand miles from that countryside, the honored guest of a city whose name stands for grandeur and size throughout the world. Hardly would it seem possible for the city of London to have gone farther afield to find a man to honor . . .
In June 1945, Dwight Eisenhower, perhaps our greatest Kansan, spoke to the people of London. He was there to be honored as the victorious Supreme Commander of the allied forces in Europe. Yet he received the honor only after qualifying the circumstances: "Humility must always be the portion of any man who receives acclaim earned in blood of his followers and sacrifices of his friends."
Eisenhower also established the importance of the context he was speaking in. England, the United States, and other allied defenders of liberty had united to oppose Nazi Germany, but and in doing so, defend human rights. That alliance of ideals had brought Eisenhower, the boy from Abilene Kansas, to generalship over Europe. Surely there were individuals will a more privileged and perfect background for such an honor, but only Eisenhower was uniquely prepared. For that reason, Eisenhower appealed to a greater unifying bond than background - "those intangibles that are the real treasures free men possess.
Kinship among nations is not determined in such measurements as proximity, size and age. Rather we should turn to those inner things, call them what you will - I mean those intangibles that are the real treasures free men possess. To preserve his freedom of worship, his equality before the law, his liberty to speak and act as he sees fit, subject only to the provision that we trespass not upon similar rights of others - the Londoner will fight! So will the citizen of Abilene! When we consider these things then the valley of the Thames draws closer to the farms of Kansas
Those intangible treasures, included the "liberty to speak and act." That treasure is why Free State Kansas exists as a citizen-driven platform for Kansans to openly exchange ideas and perspectives.
Listen to Eisenhower's full Guildhall Address here:
But - a fact important for both of us to remember - neither London nor Abilene, sisters under the skin, will sell her birthright for physical safety, her liberty for mere existence. . . Moreover, when this truth has permeated to the remotest hamlet and heart of all peoples, then indeed may we beat our swords into plowshares and all nations can enjoy the fruitfulness of the earth.