This essay of mine ran in the October 13 edition of the Cedar Rapids Gazette [IA].

Under Trump, patriotic fervor swelled as he put 'America First'                 

Last July, a Butler, Pennsylvania aspiring assassin's rifle-bullet thankfully failed to kill President Trump. Bloodied but standing tall, the inspirational candidate thrust a defiant fist into the air. It was a stirring moment. The iconic photograph is one for the history books.

And now, having survived a second murderous attempt, Trump still holds high liberty's lamp; his redoubled determination bespeaks courage to which all good Iowans aspire.

Should he prevail this November, we can expect national return to greatness. Consider how good we had it during the previous Trump Years:

'America First' guided every policy. That's common sense. Every nation's citizens should demand their leaders pursue native interests over others' at each turn. 

Our economy was robust. Wallets smiled. Store-shelves were crammed with food and other products people wanted. (Unfortunately, inflation and shortages arrived later, under the Biden-Harris administration.)

Americans could depend on Trump to protect jobs. He understood working people's concerns and crafted sympathetic policies. Manufacturing jobs were safe. Factories were incentivized to remain in (or return to) our land.

Gas prices were low. We didn't need other countries' oil since we were energy dominant. Labor in the domestic gas-and-oil industry thrived, allowing countless hardworking men and women to feed families, pay for childrens' education, and maintain comfortable living standards.

Trump imposed right and just tariffs on products foreign nations imported. That ensured fair trade, benefiting American businesses and consumers. And his tearing to shreds the odious NAFTA and replacing it with USMCA further strengthened our employment and trade positions. 

Sinister globalization was championed by voices who did not wish us well. But Trump slew that menace, ensuring future Americans will work and live in the sunshine of national health.

An adage holds that "A country without a secure border is no country at all." Trump was and remains aware of that. Owing to the strict border-law enforcement and wall-construction undertaken during his first term, numbers of unvetted illegals invading our nation plummeted. 

Trump embroiled our nation in zero new wars, a fact for which peace-lovers should commend him. One wishes more elected officials would emulate Trump. Calm, reason, and justice were the order of the day.

Some warn WWIII looms on the horizon. Trump's record inspires confidence that he would avoid such devastation.

Through muscular sanctions, Trump reduced to pauperism the government of Iran, the world's largest terrorism sponsor. He crushed ISIS. And he mounted and maintained vigorous anti-terrorism postures, crippling vicious adversaries' capacity for depravity.

Because maleficent tyrants the world over understood Trump to be a rock-ribbed defender of American interests abroad, they dared not cross him. America loomed strong and was respected. 

Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Palestinian terrorists' animalistic slaughter of Israel's Jewish men, women, and children -- even babies -- did not occur when Trump received his mail at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Only when the craven, substandard Biden-Harris team put up feet there.

Police uphold laws we the people pass through representatives that we elect. Given that, attacks on law enforcement can be rightly viewed as attacks on us. On civilization. While Trump stood in the Bully Pulpit, law and order were respected. Citizen admiration for the valorous men and women who stand between us and devastating anarchy became the norm. 

In the common-sense Trump Era, citizens were unabashed in their public celebration of all-important religious faith. And patriotic fervor swelled Americans' hearts. Waving Old Glory was again popular, as was singing the National Anthem and standing for the Pledge Of Allegiance.

All that can again be ours. All we must do is pull the correct vote lever.

Waterloo writer DC Larson is the author of That a Man Can Again Stand Up and Ideas Afoot. He counts among freelance credits Daily Caller, The Iowa Standard, and American Thinker.