Looking back over the past year we have faced the challenges of a lifetime. During that past year, Pew Research has been asking American’s their views and reactions to the COVID-19 virus. How the virus has affected their lives. The results show a mix of the depressed, fortunate, money-savers, readers, angry, happy and more… Here is just a small sampling...

Embed from Getty Images In 1941, as President Roosevelt remained reluctant to enter the war in Europe, Prime Minister Winston Churchill was dining with U.S. Ambassador John Gilbert Winant discussing England’s fate. Listening to the BBC, the radio station announced that the Japanese had attacked American ships at Pearl Harbor. Within minutes, Churchill received a phone call from FDR confirming...

According to folklore, a man approached the Jewish sage Hillel the Elder with a proposal: If he could explain the principles of his faith in a single sentence the man would convert to Judaism. Hillel responded, “What is hateful to thee, do not unto thy fellow man; this is the whole Law the rest is mere commentary.” During the attack...

Among the books in my library is a series from TIME/LIFE entitled, The Decades. In words and images from 1910 to the 1990s, editors have distilled each decade’s most notable events. For example, the ’60s: Vietnam, racism, assassinations, Woodstock, the space program – each volume memorializes the triumphs and tragedies of the American landscape. If the series continues, editors are...

“This building is dedicated by his colleagues to the memory of Philip A. Hart with affection, respect, and esteem. A man of incorruptible integrity and personal courage strengthened by inner grace and outer gentleness, he elevated politics to a level of purity that will forever be an example to every elected official. He advanced the cause of human justice, promoted...

In 1620, a small band of pilgrims came to this country to escape religious intolerance. They were also looking for freedom from political turmoil, warfare, poverty, famine and disease. They were looking for a new beginning, a new hope in a new land. While they endured unimaginable hardships, their courage, determination, and hard work made them stronger because they were...

We are living in dangerous times. In his biography of George Washington, Douglas Southall Freeman wrote that President Washington led the country “by directness, by deference and by manifest dedication to duty.” Donald Trump is the polar opposite of Washington in character and duty. Indeed, Washington would be sickened to see that the nation’s capital that bears his name has...

With the lack of courage and duty in Washington, it’s more important than ever to take a moment to remember some of the heroes who acted above and beyond 79 years ago, today. As memorialized by the History Channel, here are four stories that show what courage and duty look like. “Missouri-born Samuel Fuqua had a front row seat to...

“No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried.…” – Winston Churchill We think of America as exceptional, the leader of the free world, an example of doing the right thing. However, we’ve made our share of...

In October 1962, an American U-2 reconnaissance flight discovered Russian offensive missiles in Cuba, posing a direct threat to the United States. In the film adaptation of Robert Kennedy’s Thirteen Days, about the Cuban missile crisis, the United States and Russia stood at the abyss of nuclear war. After Russian sponsored Cuban missiles shot down a U.S. reconnaissance plane, President...