Out of Many, One: A Legal and Constitutional Approach to Unity
As a lifelong student of political philosophy and political science, rather than a practitioner of law, I tend to approach such ideas by turning to the great minds who discovered and articulated them over the centuries.
Ford’s Swimming Pool
On June 30, 1975, one of US President Gerald Ford’s lesser dreams was realized with the opening of the White House pool.
Sports and Politics
I’ve heard it said that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. I’ve also heard that people these days are pretty stressed out, and I have to wonder if that’s because we’re all being so damned vigilant.
What makes it “necessary”?
As we mark the 249th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we reflect on its interesting use of “necessary.”
Uncovering the Past: One Writer’s Fight to Save a Forgotten Vietnam Archive
After archivists at the Library of Congress thanked me for helping locate a lost video archive about the fall of Saigon, I wrote to several government officials requesting a review of all archives in the Veterans History Project. When I received no replies, I turned to Vietnam-era journalist Marvin Kalb.
Entangling Grudges: Washington's Other Warning
In his 1796 farewell address, George Washington famously cautioned about the dangers to liberty of the United States entering into entangling alliances.
The Surprising Convergence of Donald Trump's Economic Advice to the American People and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Advice to His Own People
Among the issues that Donald Trump successfully campaigned on in 2024, the most influential one, along with putting a stop to rampant illegal immigration, was undoubtedly improving the American people’s standard of living, following years of high inflation under the Biden administration.
Should We Fear AI?
Artificial Intelligence is both celebrated and feared. But what is it, and what does it portend? A brief reflection.
Managers v. Professionals
Critics of the populism that put Donald Trump in the White House (again) often point to what they assume is a contradiction between the “average Joe” of populist imagination and the decidedly above-average wealth of the people’s chosen tribunes.
Federalist 47
The next five essays, all written by Madison, may be thought of as the hinge on which the collection rests. Prior to these five essays Publius largely deals with the most consequential powers of the federal government under the Constitution, constantly stressing union as the solution to existing problems, and after these essays focuses more on the different branches of government.
Poetry, Pleasure, and Loss (With a Word about Desire Thrown in for Good Measure)
As spring finally and fitfully makes itself known here in God’s country, our author reflects on how the rhythm of language reflects the rhythm of the world. Why do beautiful things haunt us so?
The Power of Imagination
It would be difficult to find a better personification of political imagination in the second half of the 20th century than President Gerald R. Ford’s ambassador to Great Britain and Secretary of Commerce Elliot Richardson (1920-1999).