US Presidency
1988

Indeed, as a leader of a rebellion, he was himself an architect, if you will, of disorder. But he also believed that man had received from God a precious gift of enlightenment the gift of reason, a gift that could extract from the chaos of life meaning, truth, order. Just as we see in his architecture, the balancing of circular with linear, of rotunda with pillar, we see in his works of government the same disposition toward balance, toward symmetry and harmony. He knew successful self government meant bringing together disparate interests and concerns, balancing, for example, on the one hand, the legitimate duties of government the maintenance of domestic order and protection from foreign menace with government's tendency to preempt its citizens ' rights, take the fruits of their labors, and reduce them ultimately to servitude. So he knew that governing meant balance, harmony. And he knew from personal experience the danger posed to such harmony by the voices of unreason, special privilege, partisanship, or intolerance. And I do mean personal experience.