Confessions of a C-Student
I’m speaking with Ruth. We’re at a birthday celebration of a mutual friend. She tells me she didn't start college until she was...
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- Jan 2, 2022
- 10 min
John Jay, on his birthday
December 12th is John Jay’s birthday. As one of the seven most influential founders of our country, Jay’s contributions are not as well...
- Jan 2, 2022
- 8 min
State of the Union
It’s a memorable scene from a memorable movie. Actor Spencer Tracy—portraying a wealthy industrialist running for president—is looking...
- Jan 2, 2022
- 3 min
John Adams, on his birthday
October 30 is the birthday of John Adams, our second president. John Adams was one of America’s greatest statesmen--and one of its worst...
- Jan 2, 2022
- 3 min
The Spirit of Liberty
The influential jurist with the unlikely but appropriate name Learned Hand served as a presiding judge of the Second Circuit Court of...
- Dec 13, 2021
- 6 min
Hamilton, the musical
After buying tickets and waiting almost a year, we finally got to see “Hamilton,” the smash Broadway musical. It was midweek, and the...
- Dec 13, 2021
- 7 min
The Two Party System
The two-party system was not written into the plan. Indeed, the framers of the United States Constitution worked hard to create a...
- Dec 13, 2021
- 5 min
Do You Really Want To Be Rich?
Two reviews: THE MONEY GAME, by Adam Smith Putting your money in the stock market: is it a gamble, or is it an investment? Does the...
- Dec 13, 2021
- 4 min
Mastering Self
Mastering Self: Three Reviews I CAN IF I WANT TO, by Arnold Lazarus and Allen Fay “We are not disturbed by things—external events—but by...
- Dec 13, 2021
- 4 min
A Change of Head & Heart
It was like a religious conversion—a profound altering of thought, a decided charge of heart, and a rechartering of course. For Supreme...
- Dec 13, 2021
- 3 min
A Highway Runs Through it
“There’s America, there’s the South, then there’s Mississippi.” So said President Lyndon Johnson. He might have added, “And then there’s...
- Sep 27, 2021
- 10 min
The Bearded Presidents
They’re the bearded presidents—or, if you will, the Great Emancipator and the Seven Dwarfs. No president before or after these...
- Sep 27, 2021
- 4 min
Ted Koppel and the Ten Commandments
In this time of commencement addresses, I recall one in particular given by ABC news anchor Ted Koppel at Duke University in 1987. While...
- Sep 27, 2021
- 5 min
The C-Word
It’s the most famous dinner in U.S. history. It was hosted by Thomas Jefferson at his well-appointed townhouse on Maiden Lane, a stone’s...
- Sep 27, 2021
- 3 min
Do We Need Women in Government?
When women assume power in government, the world will become a kindler, gentler place. Says who? Well, Frank Capra for one. In his 1948...
- Sep 26, 2021
- 8 min
Wall Street vs. Main Street
It’s amazing how little politicians know. What they say often amounts to half-truths: yes, there is some truth in what they’re saying,...
- Sep 26, 2021
- 11 min
Ten Presidents in Ten Minutes
What makes a great president? “Great presidents possess, or are possessed by, a vision of an ideal America,” say the editors of the...
- Sep 26, 2021
- 6 min
The Supreme Court--A brief history
It was an eye-opening experience. In my last year of college I took two courses on Constitutional Law (Con Law I & II) and discovered...
- Sep 26, 2021
- 5 min
The Vision Thing
It was George H.W. Bush who made the expression famous, mainly because his critics said he lacked it. His predecessor Ronald Reagan had...
- Sep 25, 2021
- 4 min
Debunking a Myth
“This summer, when you become inundated with all the American bicentennial Fourth-of-July brouhaha, don’t forget you’re celebrating the...
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