Gerald R. Ford Leadership Forum
by Richard Gunderman, IUPUI Nine times in our nation’s history a US vice president has ascended to the office of president. In eight of these cases, the vice president assumed the office on the death of the president, and in one case, as the result of a presidential resignation. The fact that Joe Biden would …
by Jeff Polet, Director of the Ford Leadership Forum, Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation Aristotle argued that the only just polity had to be a “mixed regime,” and that meant one that blended popular and aristocratic elements. Too much power concentrated in a ruling class would become an oligarchy, and too much in the people …
by John von Heyking The current crisis of social isolation and political polarization found in the United States and to a lesser extent in other liberal democracies has led recently to an upsurge of interest in friendship as a political category. Aristotle argued that “like-mindedness (homonoia) seems to be friendship in a political sense…. For …
by Richard Gunderman, IUPUI For about a decade beginning in 1965, NBC late night weekend programming consisted of Best of Carson reruns. Then in 1974, Johnny Carson announced that he wished to stop using The Tonight Show on weekends, instead airing them on weeknights and allowing him to take more time off. Network executive Dick …
The Hidden Costs of Ridicule: Chevy Chase and SNL Read More »
Henry T. Edmondson III, Georgia College The men and women of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives love their job so much they are afraid to do it; because if they do it, they may lose it. What they lack, according to Federalist Paper # 51, is “ambition.” Federalist Paper #51 is often treated …
by Susan McWilliams Barndt, Pomona College Betty Ford wrote two autobiographies. One, The Times of My Life (1978), tells the story of a young girl from Grand Rapids, Michigan, who became—much to her surprise—the wife of the President of the United States. The other, Betty: A Glad Awakening (1987), tells the story of a wife …
Dr. John C. Pinheiro, Director of Research, Acton Institute One of the best presidential ranking polls is conducted from time to time by the Wall Street Journal, which strategically interviews a relatively small but ideologically balanced group of scholars. Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and Franklin Roosevelt always appear in the top five. The bottom five …
The U.S. Constitution and Gerald R. Ford’s Virtues Read More »
by Richard B Gunderman, IUPUI It is difficult to think of two world leaders more widely divergent from one another. Gerald Ford, the 38th President of the United States, is admired today for his lifelong commitment to decency, honesty, and integrity. Vladimir Putin, the incumbent second President of Russia, is equally reviled for his vindictiveness, …
Political Virtue and Vice: Gerald Ford and Vladimir Putin Read More »
by Jason Peters 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. By this time (1927) Hemingway was also a Catholic—and also not a very good one. …
Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” and Two Notions of the Good Life Read More »
by Gleaves Whitney Today, July 13, we celebrate the 236th anniversary of the enactment of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. Remarkably, one group of America’s founders was crafting the Northwest Ordinance in New York City as another group was debating the Constitution in Philadelphia. When else in world history were two great state papers produced …
America’s Other Constitution: The Northwest Ordinance of 1787– A Birthday Appreciation Read More »
