I first heard about John Gilbert Winant several years ago in Concord, New Hampshire, while I was teaching a class on ethics. My co-captain, Professor Stephen Ambra, spoke admiringly of the three-term Republican governor of the state. However, the most compelling part of Winant’s story unfolded during his time abroad, serving as the U.S. Ambassador to England. In 1941, Democrat...

On this anniversary of 9/11, let’s take a moment to remember those we lost and honor the heroes who ran toward danger. It was a day that tested so many who put their lives on the line to save others and brought out the best in us—courage, compassion, duty, and a sense of unity that crossed all divides. As we...

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...

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...

Embed from Getty Images Let’s face it, we’re a mess. We’re living moment to moment, crisis to crisis at home and abroad. Every time you watch the news it feels like another brick to the head. I want a respite from the endless bombardment of anger, hate, and violence. I want a moment of triumph where everyone stands up and...

Sherlock Holmes had just received a message from London informing him that Professor Moriarty’s gang had been captured. But “the Napoleon of crime,” as Holmes described, had escaped. Over weeks, the great detective had successfully tracked Moriarty to Switzerland. And there, above the roiling falls of Reichenback, the final combat took place. Locked in each other’s arms, Holmes and Moriarty...

Embed from Getty Images With the end of the 2023 World Series, I became a little nostalgic for the baseball heroes I grew up with.  Most of them were Dodgers: Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Duke Snyder. All great but didn’t come close to the charismatic hitting power of Mickey Mantle. So, when I read a story by former Detroit Tigers...

Dysfunction is no longer an adequate descriptor of Washington leadership these days. We’re all aware of the key players in this madness. The media recites them in a 24/7 loop of chaotic images and infotainment. Nonetheless, the strong and the good eventually overcame the darker forces in our nation’s past. Before we continue our march toward the abyss of cynicism,...

During the 1998 investigation of President Bill Clinton, independent counsel Ken Starr compelled Secret Service agents to testify about what they may have seen or heard regarding Clinton’s relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. With the support of the Department of Justice, Director Lewis Merletti argued that if agents were allowed to testify about anything other than criminal acts,...