Apache Chief Geronimo, 1829-1919
Geronimo, one of the most famous, and maybe infamous, Indian chiefs and warriors died in a prison hospital in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He was both feared and admired by his cavalry adversaries. One of [...]
Al Smith “The Happy Warrior”: Trail Blazer for JFK (1873-1934)
Al Smith, four times Governor of the State of New York, who rose from the sidewalks of New York, was the first Roman Catholic to represent a major political party for the presidency of [...]
Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties are Bankrupting Our Future
Peter Peterson, the Former Chairman of the New York Economics Council, Lehman Brothers, and the Blackstone Group, has articulated in his book Running on Empty the growing financial crises that confront the United States. [...]
Firing of General Douglas MacArthur
“Old Soldiers Never Die: They Just Fade Away” On April 11, 1951, President Harry Truman backed by the secretary of defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff relieved Douglas MacArthur, a five-star general who had [...]
Tour de France: The World’s Greatest Bicycle Race
The Tour de France is the world’s greatest bicycle race, currently extends some3500 to 4000 kilometers and is divided into twenty stages. It began as a wild adventure for only the heartiest of riders [...]
Guglielmo Marconi: Inventor of a Political System of Wireless Telegraphy
Today, when Marconi hopefully emerges once again into a great company, we might want to recognize its namesake. Guglielmo Marconi became the inventor of the first practical system of wireless telegraphy. He developed the short [...]
Henry Ford and The Model T: 100th Anniversary
Henry Ford (1863-1947) invented neither the automobile nor the assembly line, but recast each to dominate a new era. Indeed, no other individual in this century so completely transformed the nation’s way of life. By [...]
Henry the Navigator 1394-1460
1394-1460 In the current political environment where we are sensitive to our multi-cultural history, it is difficult, particularly in a short essay, to put in perspective the contributions of the Spanish, Portuguese, and other European [...]
Primo Carnera
“Man Mountain or Tin Man” Born 1906 Sequals, Italy Died 1967, Sequals, Italy He was a phenomenon, the most colossal boxer ever to win the world heavyweight championship. They called him the “Man Mountain, [...]
James Ewell Brown Stuart (1833-1864); Eyes of the Confederate Army
James Stuart (Known as Jeb Stuart) was the dominant cavalry officer of the Civil War until his death. General George Patton appreciated his flamboyance and charisma. Stuart provided invaluable service to the Confederate Army during [...]
John Dewey, Chief Prophet of Progressive Education (1859-1920)
Dr. Dewey was an American philosopher and educator, whose writings and teachings had a profound influence on education in the United States. Dewey’s philosophy of education (pragmatism) focused on learning-by-doing rather than rote learning and [...]
John Marshall, Arguably the Most Important Judicial Figure in American History
Arguably the Most Important Judicial Figure in American History 1755-1835 John Marshall was arguably the most important judicial figure in American history. As the chief justice on the United States Supreme Court, serving from 1801-1835, [...]
Growth and Globalization of the U.S. Fixed Income Markets Summer 2000
When I spoke to Jeff Smith, Managing Director Bank of America Capital Markets, about addressing this group of global fixed income managers, I was reading William Manchester’s biography on Douglas McArthur, an American Caesar. [...]
Justice Hugo Black, A Great Supreme Court Justice (1886-1971)
Justice Black during his long career on the Supreme Court, some 34 years, displayed a lifelong reverence for the Constitution. Perhaps no other man in the history of the Court so revered the Constitution as [...]
Lyndon Johnson: Flawed Giant by Robert Dallek
I recently completed Robert Dallek’s book, Lyndon Johnson, Flawed Giant. The author made the observation that a cross-section of historians rate Johnson an average president despite his incredible achievements in orchestrating the legislation of many [...]
Marco Polo, Italian Traveler and Explorer (1254-1324)
Marco Polo was the first European to cross the entire continent of Asia and leave a record of what he saw and heard. His autobiography “The Travels of Marco Polo” is probably the most famous [...]
Mies van Der Rohe (1886 – 1969)
Creator of Architecture for a Technological Society (1886-1969) “Architecture is the will of an epoch translated into space” Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, a man without any academic architectural training, was one of the great [...]
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (Father of the Turks) 1881-1938
Father of The Turks (1881-1938) Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was the military and political leader who brought about the end of the Ottoman Empire and the beginning of modern Turkey. Ataturk laid the foundations for a [...]
Nixon and Kennedy, The Rivalry that Shaped Post War America
In reading the book, Nixon and Kennedy, The Rivalry that Shaped Post War America, I learned the unexpected. That is, I expected the author to point out dramatic differences between these two formidable politicians on [...]
End of the Revolution by Dick Armey
Op-Ed Article Dick Armey Former Republican House majority leader from 1995-2002 Wall Street Journal, November 9, 2006 Dick Armey wrote an op-ed article in today’s Wall Street Journal that discussed the rout of the Republicans [...]
French Revolution: Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity
“After me the Deluge” Louis XV (1718-1774) Several years ago, when I was visiting the Palace of Versailles, the guide repeated a famous quote regarding this grand edifice. “Louis the 14th built it; Louis the [...]
The Impeachment of President Andrew Johnson, May 1868
In May 1868, the Senate came within a single vote of taking the unprecedented step of removing a president from office. Although the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson was ostensible about a violation of the [...]
Deadly Embrace: Nazi-Soviet Non Aggression Pact
Deadly embrace: Hitler, Stalin and Nazi-soviet non-aggression pact. I want to talk about the Nazi-soviet non-aggression pact, because this shotgun wedding changed the world forever. To cut to the quick, it jump started World War [...]
Dachau, the First Concentration Camp in Germany
“Dachau, 1933-1945”, will stand out for all time as one of history’s most gruesome symbols of inhumanity. There our troops found sights, sounds, and stenches of horror beyond belief, cruelties so enormous as to be [...]
Cuban Missile Crises: October 1962 Nuclear War Countdown! “Rather Be Dead than Red”
I had not seriously thought about the Cuban Missile Crises for many years until I saw the movie, Fog of War, which focuses entirely on the reminisces of Robert McNamara, former Secretary of Defense. Needless [...]
Theodore Herzl (1860-1904), Father of Modern Zionism
“In Basle I founded the Jewish State. Maybe in five years, certainly in fifty, everyone will realize it.” Theodore Herzl was the visionary of Zionism. Born in Budapest in 1860, he was a thoroughly assimilated [...]
Theodore Roosevelt: Bully Father (1858-1919)
I have just read a delightful book about the fabulous relationship between Theodore Roosevelt and his six children. President Roosevelt truly delighted in life and in his children. We might have had greater presidents (not [...]
Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890)
Vincent Van Gogh, postimpressionist painter, works are perhaps better known than those of any other painter. His brief, turbulent, and tragic, life is thought to epitomize the mad genius legend. During his lifetime, Van Gogh’s [...]
Visiting Gettysburg
Because so many of my friends have enjoyed visiting Gettysburg over the past few years, I wanted to encourage others to visit this historic battle site. I believe a one and half day is long [...]
Taps: The most Recognized Bugle Call
Of all the military bugle calls, none is more easily recognized or more apt to render emotion that the call Taps. The melody is both eloquent and haunting and the history of its origin is [...]
Quips and Quotes: Children
There are three ways to get something done: do it yourself, hire someone to do it, or forbid your kids to do it. Life’s golden age is when the children are too old to need [...]
Money-Fun Quotes
Money-Fun Quotes “Money is good for bribing yourself through the inconveniences of life.” Gottfried Reinhardt “A billion here, a billion there—pretty soon it adds up to real money.” Senator Everett Dirksen “I [...]
Etymologies & Word Origins Part II
Booze It derives from the Middle Dutch verb busen; meaning to driving heavily, and first appeared in English as a verb spelled bouses. From Spenser’s 1590 The Fairy Queen “And in his hand did bear, [...]
Etymologies & Word Origins
Bigwig This term for an important person dates to c. 1731. It is a reference to the powered wigs that men wore in the 18th century. Rich and important men would have larger, more expensive [...]
Cross of Gold: Highpoint of Populism
“The humblest citizen of all the land, when clad in the armor of a righteous cause is stronger than all the hosts of Error” William Bryan, 1896 In 1896, the Democratic Party the traditional minority [...]
Magna Carta: Symbol Against Oppression
I had not thought seriously about the relevance of the Magna Carta since junior high school until reading Justice Sandra O’Connor’s reference to it in her recent book about the Supreme Court. Ms. O’Connor felt [...]