John Fonte and Mike Gonzalez have an excellent post on an exchange of letters between former President Eisenhower and then-gubernatorial-candidate Ronald Reagan on the subject of hyphenated Americans and identity politics. The post concludes:
It would be wonderful to hear either a Republican presidential candidate at the Reagan Library [site of tomorrow's debate], or a Democratic presidential candidate at another event, present the arguments of Eisenhower and Reagan, or paraphrase the language of George Washington in his Farewell Address when he told his fellow countrymen that — before any other political identity — they should consider themselves first and foremost as Americans.