Conclusion: The Words That Made Us and Still Must.  In December of 1776, the Revolution was not moving toward triumph. It was close to collapse. Washington’s army was exhausted. Enlistments were running out. Men who had already given much were being asked to give more. Then Thomas Paine’s words were read aloud… …  “These are the times that try men’s...

For the most part, my high school history classes consisted of names, dates, documents, and battles. What I’ve learned since then — through historians like Doris Kearns-Goodwin, David McCullough, Ken Burns, and others — is that history comes alive when we discover the human stories behind the events. One of those stories belongs to John Hart of New Jersey, a...

During a contentious staff meeting at 60 Minutes, Scott Pelley spoke out sharply, criticizing the judgment and decision-making of CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss and newly appointed executive producer Nick Bilton — the meeting I wrote about yesterday in “The Clock Is Still Ticking… ” After that meeting, in a letter addressed to Pelley, obtained by NBC News,...

What does leadership require when decisions send others into harm’s way, and uncertainty is shared not just by those in command, but by the nation itself? General Dwight D. Eisenhower once observed that “the supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity.” Not confidence. Not control. Integrity. And it is precisely that quality that is tested when clarity is hardest to...

Since my dinner with Jefferson, Hamilton, and Madison, I’ve been reading more about James Madison, who’s often called the father of the Constitution. What struck me is this: despite the distance of time, he isn’t speaking about us. He’s speaking to us. Madison did not fear a foreign army nearly as much as he feared us. That is not an...

There are moments in history when power reveals its true character. During World War II, no American general was more central to victory than George C. Marshall. As Army Chief of Staff, Marshall oversaw the most rapid military expansion in U.S. history, transforming a modest peacetime force into an army of more than eight million. He selected commanders, managed logistics...

Every December, I look forward to reading and watching Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. While there are countless versions of the classic, I always return to the film with Reginald Owen as Scrooge, not only because Owen embodies the part, but also because it features Gene Lockhart as Bob Cratchit. A brilliant character actor with a gift for sincerity, Lockhart brings...

I recently read about a group of explorers who located a ship deep beneath the dark, cold waters off Antarctica: a vessel whose very name says a great deal about the man who once led her. Ernest Shackleton’s greatness didn’t come from a great feat. It came from the humility to set aside his own ambition the moment his men...

In a war that hammered away and left families lying awake at night counting the seconds between sirens, John Gilbert Winant, America’s ambassador to Britain, kept looking for ways to bring a little light into all that darkness. As Thanksgiving approached, thousands of young Americans scattered across London felt the distance from home: no familiar table with family, just a...

During his years in wartime London, U.S. Ambassador John Gilbert Winant absorbed the suffering around him. He was known for walking the streets during the Blitz, talking with ordinary people, sharing in their daily fears, helping to strengthen their resolve. Londoners remembered him for his compassion and accessibility. Historians consistently note how deeply he internalized the city’s suffering. He carried...