Posts Tagged ‘George Washington’
“A Republic, Madam…If You Can Keep It”
As it usually does, David Brooks’ column caught my attention this week. Examining the nature of democracy, Brooks concludes that the most recent battles over the debt and deficit in Washington will not yield fruitful outcomes absent a reversion to republican (small-r) politics. Brooks expounds upon this by labeling our current democracy the “politics of solipsism.” “The [current] political culture encourages politicians and activists to imagine that the country’s problems would be solved if other people’s interests and values magically disappeared.” Instead, he says, we need a true leadership class, of the kind that existed “as late as the Truman and Eisenhower Administrations,” to balance interests and passions. Read the rest of this entry »
Review: Chernow’s Biography of Washington
Ron Chernow’s The House of Morgan has sat unread on my bookshelf for more than a decade. But when I learned he had written a biography of George Washington, I purchased and read it immediately. At more than 800 pages, it took a while to finish, but Chernow does an admirable job of bringing this America giant to life. Read the rest of this entry »
A Little Book All Businesspeople Should Read
This week I read Paul Johnson’s slim biography of George Washington. It was inexpensive, so I picked it up at the bookstore a few weeks ago and found it a worthy way to spend a couple of hours. Reading it also prompted me to revisit Washington’s Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation, which I have read several times before. Read the rest of this entry »
