Opinion

SEC MARCO RUBIO: The West forgot what made it great. We must rediscover our roots before we lose them

Today, too much of the West has come to feel ashamed of the very things that made us exceptional

By Secretary of State Marco Rubio Fox News

Published October 8, 2026 4:55am EDT

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Rubio: The history of western civilization is 'the greatest story known to man'

Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivers a powerful address from Athens, Greece, discussing the history of Western civilization.

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On Wednesday, I traveled to the Pnyx, a hillside overlooking the towering columns of the Acropolis in Athens. There, I delivered a simple message: The West is at a crossroads. The decisions we make in the next decade will define the next century – and determine whether our civilization maintains its place at the head of the world, or resigns itself to a future of servitude and decline.

For thousands of years, the Parthenon has stood as a testament to the Western spirit, captivating the imagination of our civilization’s artists, philosophers, and statesmen. The American Founding Fathers were fascinated by classical antiquity: The most commonly cited author in the Federalist Papers was Plutarch, the Greek biographer of Greece and Rome’s greatest men. The legacy of ancient Greece is carved into the architecture of our capital city itself, immediately visible in the famous columns and domes of Washington, D.C.

We all know the familiar history. Athens gave us democracy. Plato and Aristotle gave us Western philosophy. The Greek city-states shaped our ideas of citizenship, law and republican government.

RUBIO SOUNDS CAMPAIGN-READY AS HE RAILS AGAINST OPEN BORDERS, GLOBALISM IN SPEECH FROM ANCIENT........

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