What this moment has done for all of us—for all those who have sat on the sidelines of history or never were presented with something that held as much gravitas—is that it has given us, for one fleeting moment—the moment we’re living right now—a sense of common purpose. Common purpose of which we will be able to recall forever: that when our country and our Republic were on the brink of collapse, when our fellow Americans needed us, we took a blow torch to our past differences, our former conflicts and our old rivalries, and we fought together.

In less than two weeks, I will be 76 years old. I was a boy raised near some of the poorest banks of the Mississippi River and I’ve now had the overwhelming honor to help elect senators, governors, and my dear friend Bill Clinton as president of the United States. I’ve seen my face flash across the silver screen too many times and have flown around the world twice over practicing the profession I love.

All of this was wildly unimaginable to that little boy skipping rocks in Louisiana 70 years ago. But as I sit here, wonderstruck in retrograde, I can say with certainty that in all my years, joining in this crusade to take America back from the brink of destruction is the greatest thing I have ever been a part of in my life.

This crusade is something noble.