Washington and Lincoln could not have come from more different backgrounds. And yet, in spite of vast differences, both men not only attained the highest office in the land, but the admiration and respect of generations. Both consistently rank as the top two presidents by most scholars. While Lincoln was born dirt poor in Kentucky, Washington was born to a...

Of all the stories concerning the attack on America September 11, 2001, I’m always drawn to stories of firefighters. 343 firefighters died in the World Trade Center towers 10 years ago; many after charging up 110 flights of stairs. 60 police and 8 paramedics died, as well. Cary Sheih was working in the towers on a project for the Port...

I first spoke with vascular surgeon John Baldwin in March of 2000 when I was collecting stories for my book, What Do You Stand For?  That initial contact led to an eleven-year friendship. Before going to Vietnam, John specialized in open-heart surgery but decided upon the broader fields of general and vascular surgery, he says, “to give my people skills...

Yesterday, a House panel found New York Democratic Representative Charles Rangel guilty of 11 ethics violations stemming from improper solicitation of fund-raising and failure to accurately report his personal income. After reaching a verdict, the subcommittee now sends the case to the full House ethics committee to determine how the 80-year-old will be disciplined. Punishments range from a formal reprimand...

“Bienvenido a la vida.”  “Welcome to life.” That’s what Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said to Victor Segovia, the 15th miner to emerge from a rescue capsule after being trapped more than 2,300 feet below the surface for 69 days. “We always knew that we would be rescued,” said, Mario Sepulveda, the 2nd miner brought to the surface. “We never lost...

The Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan had an interesting take this weekend (July 17) on President Obama’s poll numbers and problems with the economy and other issues. “…you know what I think people miss when they look at Washington and our political leadership,” Noonan asks. “They miss old and august. They miss wise and weathered. They miss the presence of bruised...

Miracles come in many forms. Sitting in a rice paddy in Vietnam in 1968, infantryman Dennis Haines heard the cries of a baby or small child, “Just as I looked towards this hooch,” Haines recalls, “I saw what appeared to be a door swing open and a flash.  The next thing I remember was my buddy John cradling me, telling...

On January 15, 2009, Captain Chesley Sullenberger had to make a series of critical decisions in 208 seconds.  As a result of his actions, he saved the lives of all 155 individuals on a crippled US Airways flight that had to ditch in New York’s Hudson River. In an interview (washingtonpost.com) conducted by Doug Feaver, Sullenberger talks about the qualities...

Much has been made recently of the health care debate.  And it’s important.  But there’s another issue that is just as critical. Around the time news icon Walter Cronkite died, a harmonic convergence of sorts took place in my office.  I had been revisiting a report by founder and president of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation David Krieger entitled, A Return to Sanity...

Monday, July 20th marked the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. In a White House meeting, President Obama welcomed Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins and called them “genuine American heroes.  I think it’s fair to say” the president said, “that the touchstone for excellence in exploration and discovery is always going to be represented by the...