For many Americans the rule by a “meritocracy” seems as self-evident as the truths articulated in the Declaration of Independence.

Winthrop gave this sermon aboard the Arabella, the ship upon which the Puritan community arrived in New England.

Ernest Hemingway wrote “Hills Like White Elephants” while on his honeymoon with his second wife, Pauline Pfeiffer, a somewhat boyish looking woman (in the style of the day) and a Catholic, though not a very good one.

Wise people know that every generation stands on the shoulders of giants.

Today, July 13, we celebrate the 236th anniversary of the enactment of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787.

We have commented before in this space on the problem of polarization.

Judy and family, I cannot think of a more fitting tribute to David than this “grand gathering” of Grand Rapidians.

Nine years ago I wrote an essay on patriotism, highlighted by my son’s exceedingly American golf shirt.

It is a very great honor and a high privilege, Governor Godwin, to come to the Commonwealth of Virginia and to this beautiful and significant home and to participate in this wonderful ceremony.

On this 247^th birthday celebration of our nation, we might be forgiven if we indulge the impulse to feel good about ourselves.

Many accounts of Gerald Ford’s service in Congress, where he served from 1949 until 1973, depict him as a moderate-minded lawmaker who was willing to work with members of the other party to pass legislation.

I write of freedom. It’s that time of year when, on either side of the summer solstice, a federal holiday draws Americans’ attention to freedom.

Back when I was an undergraduate, one of my professors recommended to me a book by the psychologist Julian Jaynes.

On June 15, 2023, three days before Fathers Day, I had the opportunity to spend time with Tom Brady Jr. and Tom Brady Sr. when they came to Grand Rapids, Michigan.

As Charles Dickens wrote about Victorian England in A Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

I’ll admit it: I’m biased. I attended a religiously-affiliated undergraduate college, and then went to a Catholic graduate school, and spent my career teaching at schools with religious missions.

My friend James Matthew Wilson recently wrote an essay over at Public Discourse that highlights an essential issue we rarely spend time discussing: the need to belong.

How could Gerald Ford, a fiscally conservative Republican, work with the liberal Democrats of his generation led by John F. Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, and Tip O’Neill?

The American founders were acutely aware that human beings desire power. Like Lord Acton, they believed that power tends to have a corrupting effect on those not only who attain it but those who reach for it.