Is the fate of the U.S. to decline and fall? Here’s what history says.

The American experiment will soon turn 250. Is its time running out?

Excerpt: "The U.S. retains unique strengths. It generally has independent courts and mostly freewheeling media. It enjoys relative geopolitical safety.

As the country approaches its 250th anniversary, we should remember Abraham Lincoln’s remark that no external enemy could by force take a drink from the Ohio River.

“If destruction be our lot," he said, “we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”'