Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with the Kansas delegation at the American Legion national convention on Tuesday. (Photo: State Department/Ron Przysucha)

(CNSNews.com) – Celebrating “Americanism” in U.S. foreign policy, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday it was necessary to highlight the issue because some seek to associate it with “inherent racism, or sexism,” or view it as “a code word for a narrow-minded nationalism.”

The notion that Americanism – recognition that America is an “exceptional” nation, set apart by a love of individual liberty and human dignity – is something to be proud of was “once common at every levels of American society,” he said, but now sadly “has become too rare.”

Addressing the American Legion’s national convention in Indianapolis, Ind., Pompeo said the gathered veterans knew that they served because Americanism is great and is worth defending.

“Some of our leaders would say that the idea of America, or of Americanism, means inherent racism, or sexism,” he said. “Others say that Americanism is a code word for a narrow-minded nationalism.”

“Some even want us to reject the founding principles which have blessed us since 1776. They want to substitute our founders’ words for something else,” Pompeo continued. “They’d like us to shun those founding principles, principles that were bestowed on us by God and codified in our Constitution and properly taught in our schools’ civics courses. They want us to reject the very ideas that are central to understanding our nation’s exceptionalism, and indeed its greatness.”

“That can’t happen, and I’m counting on you all to help me make sure that that never happens.”

In foreign policy, Pompeo said, the United States for decades “didn’t lead.”

“We let the bureaucrats in international organizations lead us. We let our allies shun their responsibilities,” he said. “We pretended our enemies were our friends, and sometimes sadly we even appeased them. But those days are over. No more.”

President Trump is frequently criticized for perplexingly cordial remarks directed at autocrats, including those ruling China, Russia, North Korea, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia – even as his administration’s policies, notably in the cases of Russia and China, have been considerably tougher than those of its predecessor.

Critics also take him to task for criticizing longstanding allies, like Germany.

Pompeo, however, quoted America’s first president’s warning about the nation becoming overly enamored of, or hostile towards, other countries.

“George Washington had it right,” he said. “He counseled us against ‘inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and passionate attachments’ to ‘others.’ He wanted us to look at the world dispassionately, for us to see it as it is, for what it really is.”

(In his 1796 farewell speech, Washington went on to warn, “The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest.”)

Pompeo addresses the convention in Indianapolis, Ind. (Photo: Ben Mikesell/The American Legion)

Pompeo said Americanism “means telling the truth about the challenges we face.”

“This administration didn’t pretend that the Islamic Republic of Iran was a responsible actor in the Middle East. We called out China’s bad behavior on trade and on national security,’ he said. “We recognized that North Korea’s rogue behavior could not be ignored.”

Americanism also means believing people have the right to choose their own leaders, Pompeo said, pointing to the administration’s support for the people working to restore democracy and prosperity in Venezuela, and for “the aspirations of the people of Iran as they struggle under their brutal revolutionary regime.”

“And Americanism means getting leadership right around the world,” he added, citing U.S. leadership in the coalition that ended the ISIS caliphate; its convening of a conference in Warsaw last February focused on risks to the U.S. emanating from the Middle East; its mobilizing of international support for the effort to denuclearize North Korea; and its emerging initiative to protect commercial shipping from Iranian threats in the Strait of Hormuz.