In moments of national crisis, a nation discovers whether its founding principles are merely words on paper, or values worth defending. As the 150th anniversary of the United States Bill of Rights approached in December 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted the anniversary to do more than commemorate history, he wanted it to remind Americans what they stood for. To...

We toss the word “sacred” around as if it were a mood, something reserved for private faith. But in public life, “sacred” has a harder meaning. It names the few things a free society cannot afford to treat as negotiable. Ken Burns’ The American Revolution includes an episode titled “The Most Sacred Thing.” Even without quoting a line of dialogue,...

In Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken,” a traveler stands at a fork in the woods. The traveler chooses the path “less traveled by” and later says it “made all the difference.” While I once saw it as a high school analogy about life’s choices, I now see as a reminder that every step—small or large—shapes not only who we...

A recent graduation speech by a young philosophy major, Clair Doyle, at Northwestern University in Illinois, began with a deceptively simple question that stopped me in my tracks, and caused me to think: Am I asking the right questions? It’s not the typical question you hear in a commencement address. But it’s the kind we need to be asking, now...

Three U.S. Senators. Three Republicans. All support the Constitution and their conscience: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, and Rand Paul of Kentucky—have shown that moral conviction and independent judgment can still find a place in public service. Lisa Murkowski has emerged as one of the Senate’s most principled voices. Following the January 6 attack on the U.S....

Two images of the protests taking place in Los Angeles Donald Trump’s words are rarely accidental. His instinct for rhetorical impact—whether blunt force or performative affection—has always served a purpose: to reward loyalty, punish defiance, and bend public will to his own. That contrast was on full display again this week. Amid protests erupting across Los Angeles following sweeping ICE...

Jimmy Carter didn’t just talk about values—he lived them. Long before entering the White House in 1977, and long after he left, Carter viewed leadership as a form of service. That idea of service shaped every part of his presidency. While it cost him politically, it never shook his commitment to doing what was right. He believed the office should...

Whether President Donald Trump is smart is debatable, but when it comes to tapping into fear and division he’s a genius. Trump recently issued an executive order instructing federal agencies to scrub certain words or phrases (there are 213…for now), from all government documents and communications. It’s part of a broader campaign to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts—programs the...

In a time when too many are willing to trade truth for tribalism and principle for power, it’s easy to lose sight of what we stand for—not politically, but personally. Long before politics, before the noise and division, there is character. And character is built on conscience. What follows is not a list of rules, but a set of beliefs...

In 1994, while doing research on the creation of the Lone Ranger for my first book, I spent four days with Fran Striker, Jr., the son of the creator. It still surprises me how few people know that an unassuming, imaginative writer from Buffalo, New York created, developed, and wrote the Lone Ranger, Green Hornet, Sgt. Preston of the Yukon, and many others.  » Read more...