One of the things that I always thought was cool was that you could draw a direct line from James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, all the way to Michael Jordan.

Naismith invented basketball.  He coached the University of Kansas’ Phogg Allen.  Allen coached Dean Smith at KU.  Smith coached Jordan at North Carolina.

It’s the great unbroken baseline of basketball, if you will.

I think there’s a similar (though slightly less direct) line that can be drawn from President Thomas Jefferson to President-elect Barack Obama.

Jefferson created the promise that all men (people) are created equal. President Abraham Lincoln helped to partially fulfill that promise with the Emancipation Proclamation. President Harry Truman took another step to integrate the armed forces.  President Dwight Eisenhower used troops to make sure black men and women could get an equal and non separate education.  President John Kennedy advocated for the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act.  President Lyndon Johnson got them passed and put the first black, Thurgood Marshall, on Supreme Court.  President George H.W. Bush elevated Gen. Collin Powell to lead our armed forces.  President George W. Bush appointed the first black man (Powell) and black woman (Condeleezza Rice) as Secretaries of State.

And then Barack Obama was elected President.

These Democrat and Republican Presidents looked beyond the prejudices of their times and helped fulfill the promises of our Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights.  Sure, it took far too long.  But without their actions, we might not have President-elect Obama.

It’s a legacy all Americans should be proud of.