January 19, 2009, will be the 202nd birthday of General Robert E. Lee. While many in this era of revisionist history and liberal social manipulation may either not know anything about who this man really was or what he stood for, he was indeed a great American. Winston Churchill called Lee “one of the noblest Americans who ever lived.”

President-to-be Abraham Lincoln offered command of the Union Army to Lee in 1861, but Lee refused, not willing to raise arms against his native state of Virginia. After an all-night battle of conscience, on his knees in prayer, Robert Edward Lee reluctantly resigned his commission and headed home to Virginia. He soon served as adviser to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and then commanded the legendary Army of Northern Virginia.

In answer to questions about his decision, he said “All the South has ever desired was that the Union, as established by our Forefathers, should be preserved, and that the government, as originally organized, should be administered in purity and truth.”

The Hall of Fame for great Americans was opened in 1900, in New York City. While over a thousand names were submitted, only 29 received a majority vote from the electors. General Robert E. Lee , 30 years after his death, was among those honored.

• I grieve for posterity, for American principles and for American liberty…. Robert E. Lee, 1868