Winant, alongside Winston Churchill, in this undated photo. Courtesy of St. Paul’s School

In his first inaugural address, Franklin D. Roosevelt declared, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

At the time, the country was in the depths of the Great Depression, and fear was everywhere—fear of poverty, fear of failure, fear of the unknown. Roosevelt knew that fear, if left unchecked, could paralyze a nation. More importantly, he understood that fear could be manipulated by those who sought power for their own ends.

John Gilbert Winant, Roosevelt’s trusted ally and U.S. ambassador to Britain during World War II, also understood the power of fear. When Nazi bombs rained down on London, Winant could have taken shelter far from the destruction. Instead, he walked the streets, stood alongside the people, and reassured them with his presence. He didn’t need to give speeches—his actions spoke louder than words. He embodied the principle that true leadership is about standing firm, not running away.

Today, we face a different kind of crisis, but the lesson remains the same. The greatest threat to democracy is not an external enemy, it is the undermining of trust from within.

For years, we have seen a deliberate effort to undermine faith in our elections—misinformation designed not to inform but to confuse and divide. Conspiracy theories take hold, not because they are based on fact, but because they are repeated enough to sound like truth. Political leaders, who should be strengthening democracy, instead stoke fear and doubt to serve their own ambitions. Roosevelt and Winant would have reminded us that Democracy requires constant vigilance, and a commitment to truth. Most of all, it requires citizens—willing citizens to act, not just by voting, but by demanding accountability from those who seek to represent them.

In the 1940s, Winant stood on a London rooftop, watching the city burn from German attacks. When asked why he stayed, he responded simply, “Because I said I would.” He made a promise to stand with those who believed in democracy, no matter the cost.

“We have got to live up to the best that is in our past,” Winant said. “No country can claim a special dispensation from historical change, from struggle, from suffering. But democracy has this great advantage: it can meet the challenge of the future by drawing upon the strength of free men and women who believe in something larger than themselves.”

We, too, have a promise to keep. Democracy is not just about elections. It is about the ethical responsibility to protect the institutions that make those elections possible. It is about standing up for truth when it is easier to look away. It is about rejecting fear and choosing courage.

Roosevelt and Winant understood that democracy is a test of character. Now, it is our turn to show what we stand for.