In the 1942 classic Casablanca, Rick Blane is a man who unapologetically schemes, lies, cheats and does whatever it takes to survive in Nazi-controlled French Morocco. Moments before he persuades Ilsa—the lost love of his life—to fly off with Nazi resistance fighter Victor Lazlo, he gives one of the most well-known lines in movie history. “Ilsa, I’m no good at...

After the unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, Franklin Roosevelt declared, “No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.” Eighty years ago, hours before the D-Day invasion, Allied General Dwight D. Eisenhower issued his Order of the Day. “Soldiers, Sailors,...

She’s called the Statue of Freedom, not to be confused with the Statue of Liberty which rests on Liberty Island in New York’s Bay. She stands 19 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs 15,000 pounds. She wears a helmet composed of an eagle’s head and feathers. Her right-hand rests on a sheathed sword as she holds a shield and laurel...

Why do I like New York Times columnist David Brooks? Simple. Much of the time, I write about the tree. Brooks writes about the landscape. I tend to look at the brush fire that’s threatening the tree. He focuses on how America’s inherent strength can overcome the fires of our discord. One thing about commentaries in The Times is that...

“Duty is ours. Results are God’s.”—John Quincy Adams In 1806, after a series of attacks by Britain on American ships carrying goods, Massachusetts Senator John Quincy Adams and his colleagues were outraged. American sailors were being captured and “impressed” into the King’s navy. When the American frigate Chesapeake was fired upon by a British ship, Adams was so incensed he...

The Date: September 28, 1955 The Place: Yankee Stadium The Event: Dodgers/Yankees, Game 1 of the 1955 World Series Every baseball fan has seen the video. Every baseball fan knows the outcome . . . or do they? I’ll come back to this. For my book, What Do You Stand For?, documentary filmmaker Ken Burns spoke to me about the...

Continued from Tuesday’s commentary, I offer two Senate leaders from the past. Tuesday, I spoke of the integrity of Republican John Williams. Today, I offer the character of Senator Philip Hart as excerpted with permission from The Buying of the Congress (1998) by Charles Lewis, whose response appeared in my book, “What Do You Stand For?” John Williams and Philip...

. . . two U.S. Senators, one Republican, one Democrat, showed us the meaning of duty and character. Republican John Williams, a chicken farmer and feed dealer from southern Delaware, had never gone to college.  He spoke so quietly on the Senate floor that the news media dubbed him “Whispering Willie.” But when he spoke, people listened as he exposed...

We Americans have many grave problems to solve, many threatening evils to fight, and many deeds to do, if, as we hope and believe, we have the wisdom, the strength, the courage, and the virtue to do them. But we must face facts as they are. We must neither surrender ourselves to foolish optimism, nor succumb to timid and ignoble...

My 90-year-old father was a Reagan Republican. When I told him that I was going to call to say hello to my uncle Don (his closest friend since grade school, so he was always referred to as our uncle), “Whatever you talk about,” he warned, “don’t mention politics. He’s a big Trump supporter.” Five years later, I would walk into...