Mightier Than The Sword

In the words of the first president of the United States, George Washington, "If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter."

It was purely by chance that I came across this Cavalcade of America episode, but in view of the recent terrible events in Paris, quite fitting that we feature it on RUSC at this time.

Coincidently, this Cavalcade of America show, Mightier Than The Sword was broadcast 74 years ago on the 8th January 1941. 

This was a story dedicated to one of American journalisms great historic crusades, based on the life of Thomas Nast, a political cartoonist, who during the 1870's and 1880's, fought to secure decent civil government by the means of his celebrated cartoon drawings, harnessing the power of the American free press. 

"The pen is mightier than the sword" is a figure of speech indicating that communication is a more effective tool than direct violence, and the sentence (if not the idea, which had been expressed in various earlier forms) was coined by English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839 for his play Richelieu.

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