John F. Kennedy’s Profiles in Courage highlighted eight U.S. senators who defied party pressure and public opinion to do what they believed was right. Today, in stark contrast, we face a political landscape where courage has been relegated to the history books, and truth is too often replaced by rationalizations. A reckless president is dismantling the norms and values that...

In a 2016 poll entitled “What Voters Want in a President Today,” Pew Research reported that “more than a year before the first primaries, more voters valued a hypothetical candidate with ‘experience and a proven record’ (50%) than one who had ‘new ideas and a different approach’ (43%). Six months later, those numbers had flipped – 55% said it was...

Friday, January 20, 1961. I watched as my 7th grade teacher wheeled a big TV into the classroom and announced that we would be watching the inauguration of a new president. Any excuse to watch TV was great. When it was over, I realized I was part of a moment in history that I would never forget. The day was...

While Americans continue to struggle with a deadly virus and financial starvation, excellence in national leadership has been reduced to a group of toxic enablers that appeal to an insular “base” that promotes our worst impulses instead of our best. The ’60s suffered its own challenges. Civil rights. Vietnam. The assassination of three political leaders. But then something stunning happened....

During times of crisis, U.S. presidents have always offered words of inspiration, and fortitude ensuring that “we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty,” President John F. Kennedy declared at his inauguration. Here are some lesser known but powerful words, nonetheless. “We always...