Kinnick was suspicious of government power

Nile Kinnick kept a diary while serving in the Navy during World War II aboard the USS Lexington. He died in a plane crash soon after. This is a quote from the book titled “A Hero Perished: The Diary and Selected Letters of Nile Kinnick,” published by the University of Iowa Press in 1991:

“There are too many Americans who don't yet appreciate the real value of liberty and freedom of enterprise. If the government continues to ‘take over' more and more, who is going to be the arbiter in any complaints and disputes which arise? The tyranny and abuses of business and labor will then be present in the government itself and doubly hard to correct.”

“In the interest of justice and public welfare, I agree that a government should stand by as a benevolent sheriff, alert and on the job, but I am suspicious of that power.”

Every elected official should read this daily and regard it as a creed to live by.

Merle Ries

Cedar Rapids