Northern Unionists and Southern Confederates blood soaks our soil it s just that we don t dwell on it. People don t die in America. They pass away into euphemism. Oh, we forgive people for losing, we admire Christopher Reeves for overcoming tragedy. It s an old American Protestant knowledge.
Character is formed by defeat.
Richard Nixon, our most complicated political losers. Right after he lost to John Kennedy in 1960, that he realized that every great person in American History knew loss. The truly great leaders of history learned to overcome loss. And yet, despite our love of the winter, despite the cheering for the golden hero, another theme, another subversive note sounds in America, our two most enduring American musics country and blues connect poor whites and poor blacks. Billie Holliday sings in a different register, some terrible knowledge that Tammy Wynette also knew.