In a 2016 poll entitled “What Voters Want in a President Today,” Pew Research reported that “more than a year before the first primaries, more voters valued a hypothetical candidate with ‘experience and a proven record’ (50%) than one who had ‘new ideas and a different approach’ (43%). Six months later, those numbers had flipped – 55% said it was...

The Presidential Greatness Project, led by Professors Brandon Rottinghaus and Justin Vaughn, is a research effort that evaluates U.S. presidents through the lens of expert scholars in the field of presidential politics. Every few years, these scholars weigh in on which presidents exemplify greatness based on their leadership, historical significance, and legacy. In 2024, not surprisingly, Abraham Lincoln still holds...

The Rockwellesque city of Springfield, Ohio, has recently been thrust into the national spotlight, not for its charm but because of false claims spread on social media that Haitian immigrants have been stealing and eating the pets of their neighbors. Despite a lack of evidence, former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Senator J.D. Vance, have used the claims...

“A Judge Should Avoid Impropriety and the Appearance of Impropriety in all Activities.” –Canon 2, Code of Conduct for United States Judges In 1969, Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas was accused of financial misconduct for accepting a retainer from businessman Louis Wolfson, who had legal issues that could have come before the Court. Although Wolfson’s case never reached the Supreme...

In 63 BCE, Rome was facing an internal crisis that threatened to destroy the Republic. Roman senator Lucius Sergius Catilina, known as Catiline, was conspiring to overthrow the government. With the help of a coalition of the discontented, his plan included violent uprisings and the assassination of several leading senators and political figures, including Cicero, Rome’s famed philosopher and statesman....

Yesterday, during a nap, I had a dream. In the dream, a young boy looked up at a man whom he admired, a man who stood for the right thing, a man who persevered during the toughest of times. But when that same man was overwhelmed by an avalanche of lies, bowed his head and . . . gave up....

With all the recent attacks on judges, this profile of a former municipal judge in Providence, Rhode Island is just too compelling and important to ignore. And it has overwhelmed social media with hundreds of millions of views. CBS reporter David Begnaud begins the story. “‘I’m just a small-town municipal court judge, just trying to do good.’ That’s what 80-year-old...

Embed from Getty Images When Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito refused to recuse himself from cases concerning the January 6 insurrection despite having far-right flags flying over two of his homes in support of the “Stop the Steal” campaign, he had a ready response to Congress. “I had nothing whatsoever to do with flying the flags. My wife is fond...

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...

While the Gettysburg Address is one of the most remembered and well-regarded, it was not Lincoln’s greatest speech. His second inaugural address was far superior and can be viewed as a prophecy for today’s divided nation: “On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it, all sought...