Information You Don't Need But Might Like
You've read some samples from my portfolio, but perhaps knowing me better on a personal level will help you decide. Read at your leisure.
Some Good and Some Great Presidents I Admire, And Why.
George Washington. The most successful mediocre General in history; reluctant to take power; used it judiciously when he had it; willingly gave it up; the "indispensable man."
John Adams. Irritated many as the most impertinent, persistent but ultimately successful advocate for independence. Secured loans from the Netherlands essential to keeping the revolution alive. Stepped on his own toes as a one-term President, but still, along with Franklin, deserves a Jefferson-scale monument in Washington.
Thomas Jefferson. Renaissance man. Author of the Declaration. Doubled the size of the US by purchasing Louisiana from Bonaparte without bothering to tell Congress, then had it explored all the way to the Oregon coast. Founder of the Democratic Party.
Abraham Lincoln. Saved the United States in its darkest hour, and in the briefest of speeches redefined our creed, making it (and us) better. Our greatest president.
Ulysses Grant. Failed at a dozen occupations but when given command of a regiment quickly showed a genius for war. Promoted to General, he captured two strategic forts in Tennessee, then captured Vicksburg to wrest control of the Mississippi from the Confederacy. He shared with Lincoln the key insight: that the strategic objective was not to capture Richmond but to destroy the Confederate army, which he pursued diligently and successfully. A great military leader and a good President.
Theodore Roosevelt. The most energetic President in our long history. Author of 47 books. War hero. North Dakota cattle rancher. African big game hunter. Nearly died exploring the Amazon. Best remembered as a Progressive who enacted antitrust laws that broke up monopolies in oil, transportation and other industries. Almost solely responsible for the Panama Canal. Today he would be a Democrat.
Franklin Roosevelt. Overcame a crippling illness to achieve the highest office (and somehow kept his wheelchair a secret). After seeing us through a global depression, anticipated and prepared us for America's necessary involvement in World War Two. In the meantime kept Britain going despite vocal opposition from the America First crowd (Father Coughlin, Charles Lindberg, etc.). Launched the Manhattan Project that would end the war with Japan and alter our world for better or worse forever. The greatest President of the 20th century.
Harry Truman. Like Grant a failure but for two things: first as the captain of an artillery battery in World War One, and second as a singularly honest and effective politician from the Kansas City machine. Saved millions of dollars and countless lives as the chairman of the World War Two procurement committee. As President quickly came to understand the Soviet threat and drew a line in the sand called "Containment" that would stand as American policy through seven Presidents. Through the Marshall Plan saved Europe from Communism and possible starvation.
Gerald Ford. If you were a precocious teenager in 1974 there was much about Ford to despise once he pardoned Nixon. But time has shown it to have been a wise decision, and he was exactly the kind of Republican President that performs best, skeptical of progress but never opposed to it. Like Truman he never sought the office. Perhaps there's a lesson there.
Jimmy Carter. A better President than conservatives would have you believe. Deregulated the transportation industries (rail, airlines, trucking), and after the second oil embargo took drastic action to reduce our dependence on Middle East Oil (from fourteen million barrels a day to five!). Doomed by two headaches that made him look week and incompetent: the Iranian embassy takeover, and an increase in interest rates necessary to stop inflation. Our greatest ex President. Walter Mondale said of this administration: We told the truth. We obeyed the law. We kept the peace. And they did.
George H. W. Bush. By all accounts a generous and kind man who never considered the opposition "enemies" Navigated the tricky collapse of the Soviet Union and would probably have handled Russia better than Clinton. Violated his convention pledge, "No new taxes," when it became clear more revenue was needed. Though it may have cost him the election, when asked later if he regretted it, he said "No. It was the right thing to do." They all spin, but Bush 41 spun less than most.
Three Plays Worth Watching (again)
Everyone should have three plays that make them smile just thinking about them. These are mine.
Technical Writing
1991 World Series. Game 7. Atlanta at Minnesota. There is no score through 7 innings. In the top of the 8th, Atlanta loads the bases with one out. Anything put in play will score at least one run. Denied! The Twins turn a 3-2-3 double play and get out of a huge jam. They will win the game 1-0 in the bottom of the 10th, and Jack Morris will pitch himself into the Hall of Fame.
2014 Frozen Four semi-finals, Minnesota - North Dakota. The Gophers had a penalty with a minute left in the game, and ND is pouring it on. With nine seconds left, the shorthanded Gophers win a draw and defying all odds skate to the other end and score. Two nights later they would lose the Championship to tiny Union College, enrollment 2,500.
2013, Auburn-Alabama. Score tied 28-28 with seconds left. Alabama attempts a 56 yard field goal which falls short. Auburn has a man in the end zone for just such a circumstance, and runs 109 yards for a touchdown. Why do I care about Auburn? I don't, but I hate that smug entitlement the Tide seems to exude. However, I do like Alabama golf courses.
Quotes I Try To Remember
​​We need to stop judging others by their worst actions, and ourselves by our best intentions.
George W. Bush
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shores;
Send these, the tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
Emma Lazarus
​​Every day do one thing that scares you.
Eleanor Roosevelt
And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. Thomas Jefferson.
The last sentence of the Declaration of Independence.
They really meant it!
To lose one parent is tragedy. To lose both is negligence.
Oscar Wilde
Never, of course, explore the guts of an idea that seems as if it might threaten one of your more cherished beliefs.
Colin Fletcher
The logic of worldly success rests on a fallacy: the strange error that our perfection depends on the thoughts and opinions of others! A weird life it is, indeed, to be living always in someone else’s imagination, as if that were the only place in which we could be real.
Thomas Merton
Peace comes at its maximum only to the man who has given up golf.
P.G. Wodehouse
More Weight.
The character Giles Corey
(in The Crucible, by Arthur Miller).
You'll have to look it up or ask me.