For Calvin Coolidge, the Declaration of Independence is “a great spiritual document," which possesses a “finality” that “is exceedingly restful": “If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their powers from the consent of the governed, that is final.” This week, [...]
In both rhetoric and substance, the ideologies of globalism and nationalism have been playing a major role in current events and controversies. How have they shaped American and world attitudes and actions over centuries? Introduction The current controversy about the violent riots in Los Angeles and President Trump’s military response to them is part of [...]
Ronald Reagan was truly a great president who led our nation through a critical period in our history, demonstrating tenacity, courage and faith. He faced down an enemy and never blinked. He inspired Americans to look to our better angels and reminded us that we hold the potential within us to do great things, with [...]
Traditional rankings of the American presidents ask whether our chief executives did what was necessary for the good of the country. But should we look to their fidelity to the Constitution as a better way to evaluate their behavior in office? 9 Presidents Who Screwed Up America: And Four Who Tried to Save Her, by [...]
“The book that explains Trump’s dominance may well have been published in 1962.” Or so contend the editors of the Atlantic Monthly. Amazon apparently agrees, since its blurb to promote current sales of Daniel Boorstin’s The Image borrows directly from the editors of the Atlantic and their leap into an increasingly distant past. But is [...]
If a single descriptor would define conservative activist and scholar, Lee Edwards, it would have to be Lee Edwards, anti-communist. And that would be anti-communism at home and abroad. Just Right: A Life in Pursuit of Liberty by Lee Edwards. (378 pages, Regnery, 2024) If the repeated call of the old Popular Front was “no [...]
Donald Trump has a second chance, with a much better understanding of how things work in Washington and whom to trust there, to have a transformative presidency. The absurdity is finally over. Almost. The insanity of the national Democrats we have seen over the last four years, particularly since Donald Trump’s November defeat of Kamala [...]
We Americans like to think of ourselves as anti-monarchical; most of us on the Right are self-styled small-r republicans, while Leftists think of themselves as small-d democrats. In addition, we all, Right and Left, fancy that what unites Americans is devotion to a set of ideas to which we all adhere, and which are best [...]
Jimmy Carter was a nice, good man who epitomized American Christianity’s reduction to Moralistic, Therapeutic Deism. As such, the singing of John Lennon's atheistic "Imagine"—Carter's favorite song—at the former president's funeral was entirely appropriate. Last week at former president Jimmy Carter’s funeral, country singers Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood sang ex-Beatle John Lennon’s song Imagine, [...]
We pray, O almighty and eternal God, who through Jesus Christ has revealed thy glory to all nations, to preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church, being spread through the whole world, may continue with unchanging faith in the confession of your name. We pray Thee, who alone are good and holy, to [...]
We have the makings of one, and it explains a lot of what’s going on. It is not yet complete. Clearly, a major political realignment is underway in this country. The defection of RFK, Jr. to the Trump campaign and the decision of Dick Cheney to join his daughter in voting for Kamala Harris is [...]
Ngo Dinh Diem, the first President of South Vietnam, and JFK were both Catholics, though Catholics of very different persuasions. Landscape The assassination of President Kennedy on November 22, 1963, was one of the landmark moments and one of the most remembered events in twentieth-century history. The assassination of President Diem of Vietnam [...]
It’s entirely possible to imagine Theodore Roosevelt becoming President of the United States, even a Rushmore-eligible president, with an entirely different set of female loves. But it’s much less likely. The Loves of Theodore Roosevelt: The Women Who Created a President, by Edward F. O’Keefe. (446 pages, Simon and Schuster, 2024) Try as he might, [...]
People ask why a few of us presidential junkies would like to see Presidents’ Day changed back to Washington’s Birthday. The technical explanation has to do with a misguided law called HR 15951 that was passed in 1968 to make federal holidays less complicated. The real answer is simply this: George Washington is our greatest [...]