Andrew Higgins (1886–1952) was born to be an inventor and entrepreneur. His drive to create and be self-sufficient began when his father, John, died when he was 7 years old. Within two years of his father’s death, Higgins began a lawn service and took on several paper routes to help the family. By the time…

In his article “Presidential Farewell Addresses,” Gleaves Whitney notes that before Harry Truman only three presidents had composed formal farewell addresses to the nation. As Whitney tells us, three factors likely account for this circumstance. First, some of the early chief executives held George Washington and his farewell address in such esteem that they deemed…

Commentary Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States, once said that “A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.” I was reminded of these prophetic words when considering the relevance (or lack of it) of Labour Day, which is celebrated on different dates in the Australian states and…

Dwight D. Eisenhower was an avid reader of history. In his memoir, At Ease: Stories I Tell to Friends, the former president tells about his childhood days lost in books about Greece, Rome, Egypt, and Persia. He loved the stories about famous warriors, kings, and philosophers—the “peaks and promontories,” as he calls it, of history. But writing his…