“We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom.” On January 20, 1961, I was in seventh grade, watching John F. Kennedy deliver his inaugural address. I could not have known then that I was witnessing a moment in history, with words that would inspire generations to come. As Thurston Clarke recounts in his book Ask...

“I would like to say again that the United States is very much interested in reducing tensions and halting the arms race.” —President John F. Kennedy, October 27, 1962 “I express my satisfaction and thank you for the sense of proportion you have displayed and for realization of the responsibility which now devolves on you for the preservation of the...

On March 4, 1865, a tall, tired man stood before a crowd gathered at the United States Capitol to deliver what would become one of the greatest speeches in American history. Abraham Lincoln was beginning his second term as president. The Civil War, which had torn the nation apart for nearly four years and claimed hundreds of thousands of lives...

Republican John Williams, a chicken farmer and feed dealer from southern Delaware, had never gone to college.  He spoke so quietly on the Senate floor that the news media dubbed him “Whispering Willie.” But when he spoke, people listened as he exposed the biggest corruption scandals of the late 1940s, 1950s and 1960s – sending hundreds of government officials to...

In 1998, at the height of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, Secret Service Director Lewis Merletti was driving to work when a radio report stopped him cold. President Bill Clinton had been accused of having a sexual relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. When Merletti arrived at his office, his deputy informed him that Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr wanted to question...

The political and cultural landscape has become a minefield of conflicting beliefs, many now rooted less in public policy than in personal identity. One of James Madison’s central concerns in drafting the Constitution was the danger posed by “factions”—political, economic or ideological groups so driven by shared passions that they might place their own power above the rights of others...

A few nights ago, I was watching The Way We Were, a film I’ve seen more times than I can count. This time, a single line stopped me. Katie Morosky, played by Barbra Streisand, has just returned from a political demonstration in Washington. She and Hubbell are arguing when she says: “People are their principles.” It’s a simple sentence. But...

“Cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government.”—George Washington’s Farewell Address, 1796 “Our machines and ballot counting systems are exposed to hacking and manipulation and corruption…. Hundreds of thousands of non-citizens and dead people are listed and active on the voter rolls.”—Donald Trump, Election...

There’s a moment in Cool Hand Luke when Luke, played by Paul Newman, is returned to a prison camp after escaping. Determined to break his will, the guards order him to dig a hole. After the hole is dug, another guard instructs him to fill it in. Dig. Fill. Dig. Fill. The exercise is not about punishment. It’s about submission....

I’ve been listening to and watching Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia for more than a year now: his speeches, his questions in Senate hearings, his oversight work. And I keep coming back to one clear thought: Jon Ossoff should not only be re-elected to the Senate. He should consider running for President. Why? Because he does something that has...