It may seem obvious, but it couldn’t be more urgent: we need about a thousand Mr. Smiths in Washington right now. We need the idealism, yes, but we also need the pragmatism. We need leaders with the courage and character to stand up for what’s right. We need leaders who can turn vision into action and build a better, more...

Harvard University now stands at an ethical crossroads—not just for itself, but for every educational entity in the country. While I never attended Harvard, you don’t need a Harvard degree to see the deadly sword hanging over all of education. The moment universities start compromising their core values to appease an administration obsessed with control, they surrender more than autonomy—they...

As President Donald Trump celebrated the 250th anniversary of the U.S. military, one soldier was under attack. At Fort Drum, New York, Maj. Erica Vandal glanced at her phone. A message from her mother: “Just heard about the Supreme Court ruling. That totally stinks! How are you doing?” The court had just allowed Trump’s ban on transgender troops to take...

It begins subtly. A shrug at a cruel remark. A laugh at behavior once considered beneath the dignity of the office. A dismissal of a fact, a bending of the truth. “It’s just rhetoric,” they say. “He’s just being himself.” Norms don’t break overnight. They erode—quietly, steadily—until what was once outrageous becomes routine. But the temperature keeps rising. In April,...

“If there is one thing I’ve learned in my life, it’s that a man’s judgment is no better than his information.”—John Glenn In an age when celebrity often eclipses substance, John Glenn never needed a spotlight to define his worth. He had already flown faster than sound, orbited the Earth, and stared into the black unknown. But his real legacy...

  What separates a good leader from a great one isn’t intelligence, charm, or even experience. It’s character—specifically, the willingness to do the right thing when it’s difficult, unpopular, or politically damaging. We’ve seen this quality in several U.S. presidents, but four in particular stand out—not for partisan wins, but for the ethical backbone they demonstrated when it mattered most....

I met President Gerald Ford while working at KMIR-TV in Palm Springs. The event was held at the home of a wealthy supporter in Thunderbird Heights, high above Rancho Mirage. It was one of those orchestrated press gatherings, but Ford made it feel different. As he made his way down a line of reporters—and this lowly cameraman—he didn’t just shake...

John F. Kennedy’s Profiles in Courage highlighted eight U.S. senators who defied party pressure and public opinion to do what they believed was right. Today, in stark contrast, we face a political landscape where courage has been relegated to the history books, and truth is too often replaced by rationalizations. A reckless president is dismantling the norms and values that...

Good Night, and Good Luck, starring George Clooney on Broadway is a wake-up call about the ethical courage we desperately need today—a timely parable based on a pivotal moment in American history when journalism was not only a public service, but a moral stand. The play recalls the courage of broadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow as he confronted Senator Joseph...

In 1950, Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine stood alone on the Senate floor and delivered what would become one of the most courageous speeches in American political history. At a time when fear and smear were the tools of the day, she called out the reckless accusations and bullying tactics of Senator Joseph McCarthy. The Senate, she said, had...