Editor’s note: A shorter version of this article first appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. On July 4, 1826, America awaited a special moment. It was the young nation’s Jubilee. It was the 50th anniversary of its birth, of the signing of … Continue reading
American History & Presidents
Alexander Hamilton and American Independence
As we celebrate the 4th of July, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit musical “Hamilton” is lionizing the life and legacy of Alexander Hamilton. “Hamilton” won 11 Tony Awards, including best musical, a Grammy Award for best musical theater album, the Pulitzer Prize … Continue reading
Trump vs. Reagan: What is a Conservative?
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at ConservativeReview.com. Many of Donald Trump’s supporters have compared him to Ronald Reagan. It is quite instructive that Trump himself picked up the 1980 Reagan campaign slogan, “Let’s Make America Great Again.” Trump speaks positively of Ronald … Continue reading
Hiroshima: Obama vs. Truman
President Obama’s address at Hiroshima, Japan on May 27 provides us with a good opportunity to examine his foreign policy attitude and contrast it with the views of one of America’s most courageous war-time presidents—Harry S. Truman. This exercise has … Continue reading
A “What If” Memorial Day
The news could not have been worse. Starvation, malnutrition, diseases such as typhoid, smallpox, dysentery, and pneumonia, along with freezing temperatures that assaulted thousands of shoeless feet bloodying the snow, attached to bands of “walking skeletons” exposed to the elements … Continue reading
Seven, Eight … Nine Brothers in World War II
Back during Memorial Day 2014, I wrote a piece on five brothers who served in World War II. I was impressed by the Bailey boys, from my neck of the woods in Western Pennsylvania, and still am. Imagine my surprise when a … Continue reading
Registering Women for the Draft: A Charade, Not a Necessity
The Armed Services Committee (ASC) recently approved a measure requiring American women aged 18 to 26 to register for the draft and sent it to the full House for consideration. If this measure becomes law it will do nothing to … Continue reading
An Autopsy of a Movement
With Ted Cruz having dropped out of the 2016 presidential race, there will be a string of eulogies seeking to autopsy his campaign. At least some of those critiques may hit the mark. In particular, Cruz’s campaign strategy went awry … Continue reading
“Pigasus” for President: Chicago 1968 speaks to 2016
“The mob is the mother of tyrants.” –Diogenes of Sinope In late August 1968, two months after an assassin killed presidential candidate Senator Robert Kennedy and shortly after Republicans nominated Richard Nixon for president, the Democrats gathered in Chicago to pick … Continue reading
Undying Devotion: The Untold Story of How Nancy Reagan Would Have Taken a Bullet for Her Husband
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at FoxNews.com. On March 30, 1981, at 2:25 p.m., President Ronald Reagan was leaving the Washington Hilton through a side door after speaking to a union group. Outside was a gaggle of staff, secret … Continue reading
“The Slaughterhouse of the World” – The Battle of Verdun at 100
The Battle of Verdun started 100 years ago this February, and lasted through the year, finishing in December 1916. At 7:15 a.m. on February 21, the 1,200 guns of the German Fifth Army began a bombardment to signal the beginning … Continue reading
The Republican Party and American Foreign Policy: A Broken Tent Pole
A long tradition in American politics has been the metaphor of political parties serving as a “big tent.” In the case of the 2016 Republican nomination process, however, the tent seems to be collapsing if not set aflame by its … Continue reading
Why in the World Does Anyone Want to Be President?
As we celebrate Presidents’ Day in the midst of the 2016 campaign for the White House, it is fitting that we pause to ask why in the world anyone wants to be president of the United States. Arguably it is … Continue reading
Giving thanks at Thanksgiving … but not to God
In 1789, America’s first president proclaimed a “day of public thanksgiving and prayer.” George Washington implored the heavens to “pardon our national and other transgressions” and urged the citizenry to practice “true religion and virtue.” In 1863, Abraham Lincoln urged … Continue reading
Presidents and Thanksgiving
Responding to a request from Congress, President George Washington issued our nation’s first Thanksgiving proclamation in 1789. Only in the midst of the crucible of civil war, however, did presidential proclamations of Thanksgiving become customary. Every year since 1863 our … Continue reading
Hollywood’s Blacklisted Communist: The Truth About Trumbo
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at Investor’s Business Daily. A long-touted motion picture on prominent Hollywood screenwriter and communist Dalton Trumbo debuts in theaters this weekend. I will see the film, but first I’d like to share some background … Continue reading
Surviving Hitler’s “Hell-Hole” … Remembering Frank Kravetz
“Just existing became what was important.” So said Frank Kravetz, World War II veteran and former captive of Nuremberg Prison Camp, or what Frank called the Nazi “hell-hole.” “Yet even as I struggled with the day-to-day sadness and despair,” said … Continue reading
What Bill O’Reilly’s New Book on Ronald Reagan Gets Wrong About Ronald Reagan
By Craig Shirley, Kiron K. Skinner, Paul Kengor, and Steven F. Hayward Editor’s note: This article first appeared at The Washington Post. “Killing Reagan,” by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard, is supposed to be a book of new scholarship on the Reagan … Continue reading
The Crucible You Never Knew … Arthur Miller at 100
Editor’s note: This article first appeared at The American Spectator. October 17, 2015 is the centenary of the birth of Arthur Miller, one of the literary left’s shining lights and righteous crusaders against some of liberals’ worst demons: Joe McCarthy, … Continue reading
Humility in New Hampshire
In his 1850 short story, “The Great Stone Face,” Nathaniel Hawthorne described the legend of the Old Man of the Mountain: “At some future day, a child should be born hereabouts, who was destined to become the greatest and noblest … Continue reading