This week’s Heritage Essay is a little longer than usual, mostly because of the length of the speech excerpted, but also because of the importance of the topic and the interesting way in which it is handled.

On Washington's birthday in 1861, a fortnight after six States had formed a confederacy of their own, Abraham Lincoln came here to Independence Hall knowing that in 10 days he would face the cruelest national crisis of our 85-year history.

Ours was a boxing household. As a boy growing up in the 1990’s, I may have read the majority of boxing magazines published in America between the years 1970 and 1995.

We’ve been writing a series of essays on the importance of symbols in political life, with a special focus on the flag as an avatar of the nation.

One of the more interesting developments of the last five years (or so) has been the creation of independent content delivery systems that allow authors to bypass corporate control of news and information.

Crisis at the border. You fear the other guy will win the November election.

Last week I discussed the importance of symbols in political life, and of the flag in particular.

At the end of last month, on May 29, lovers of literature celebrated the 150th anniversary of the birth of G. K. Chesterton, one of the greatest and most influential writers of the twentieth century.

Dwight David Eisenhower was known as a man of dispassionate and independent judgment.

In 1988, Michael Dukakis, the Democrat’s nominee for president, faced a crisis.

Tomorrow, June 14th, is Flag Day. It commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States by the Second Continental Congress in 1777.

We’ve argued repeatedly in this space that part of Washington’s greatness as president was his willingness to walk away from power, even in circumstances where the opportunity to expand power was handed to him.

In my essay last week I talked about my ambivalent reaction to the movie Saving Private Ryan. Although visually powerful, I found the story full of holes and the overall moral framework poorly constructed.

June 6, 2024 marks the eightieth anniversary of the most important military operation in American history. 

Presidents are largely defined by how they deal with crises, and no president had to deal with a greater crisis than did Abraham Lincoln.

My family has a long history of public service. Several family members, including my dad, served in the U.S Army during World War II and the Korean War.

On this Memorial Day we take some time to reflect on books and movies that can help us better understand the experiences of soldiers at war.

Rousseau’s seemingly optimistic theory that man is good in nature (the “noble savage”) but is corrupted by private property and by traditional social, political, and ecclesiastical institutions proved disastrous, leading to the irrational and deadly utopianism of the French Revolution.

Being in the middle has a bad reputation. Middle children often seem willful and resentful.

Ever since Ford pardoned Nixon, the perspective of the press and the nation changed.