The fire that devastated one of the great religious, cultural and architectural treasures of the world – the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris – not only shocked French citizens but the world. If the walls inside this cavernous basilica could talk, they would tell a story of conflict, coronation, and courage. Built by hand more than 850 years ago, Notre-Dame –...

This isn’t a movie review about the new documentary. This is a memory review. 1969… While the war in Vietnam was grinding away at America’s soul, one extraordinary moment electrified and uplifted Americans and the world like never before. On July 21, 1969, Neil Armstrong climbed down a small ladder from his lunar lander christened the “Eagle,” paused briefly, then...

And what better way for President Trump to celebrate a national emergency than unwinding for a three-day weekend at Mar-a-Lago playing golf! How does President Trump rank among his predecessors? Okay, we all know he wouldn’t make the top ten… twenty… or even thirty, but where does he align? Wikipedia compiled several lists from historians to public opinion polls. “The...

Words of tribute for our 41st president, George H.W. Bush, continue to lead the news. Generous. Humble. Caring – a president who favored consensus over partisanship; “His kindness and civility cloaked a competitiveness,” son Jeb Bush and close friend James A. Baker III write in The Washington Post (Dec. 4). “The two of us never met a man as remarkable...

“America is never wholly herself unless she is engaged in high moral principle.”      – George H.W. Bush, 41st U.S. President There are people in our lives who, despite not personally knowing, cause you to feel connected to them. It comes through their words and their character. President George H.W. Bush was that kind of man and president. And you can...

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.” – John F. Kennedy Today marks the 45th anniversary of the assassination of President John Kennedy. Perhaps the most vivid memory of Kennedy I have comes from January 20, 1961 when my seventh-grade teacher wheeled a big,...

The Federalist Society is a group of conservatives and libertarians who believe in a strict interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. Often referred to as “originalists,” the Society’s central argument for judicial restraint can be found in Federalist Paper 78, authored by Alexander Hamilton: “It can be of no weight to say that the courts, on the pretense of a repugnancy,...

After spending a week in Boston, I came away refreshed from tours of the Freedom Trail, the North Church, Boston’s original State House and Faneuil Hall, often referred to as The Cradle of Liberty. Prior to the Revolutionary War, thousands stood in that great Hall to listen to the likes of Samuel Adams, his cousin John, and other “Sons of...

In the run-up to the midterms on Tuesday, President Trump has been hitting the campaign trail, hitting Democrats, and anyone else in his way, about the dangers from a group of Central American migrants working their way up to the U.S. border. With Fox & Friends egging him on, Trump said, “Anybody throwing stones, rocks, like they did to the...

Historian Jon Meacham has become a reliable storyteller of past presidents. They come alive in his pages through the many stories that illustrate who they were and what they stood for. However, in The Soul of America – the Battle for Our Better Angels, Meacham is concerned with more than historical biography. Alarmed by the man who inhabits the White...