Henry Clay: “All legislation … is founded upon the principle of mutual concession. The common theme was the need to reach a compromise when the times demanded it. Those are three examples from Kennedy’s book. John Quincy Adams, following repeated naval aggressions by the British, supported an embargo bill that outraged his New England economic interests Daniel Webster supported the Missouri Compromise against the unified opposition of the extreme abolitionists of his day and preserved the Union for an additional decade before the Civil War and Edmond Ross cast the deciding vote against the impeachment of Andrew Johnson. What each of them had in common was that at some point they were required to stand up to their own political constituencies and allies to do what was right for the interests of America. Men of all political parties and beliefs, from different parts of America and different eras. Kennedy that details the careers of several senators in our history.

On a long flight to Asia, I recently re-read my 1961 edition of “Profiles in Courage,” the book written by then-Sen. He inspired a generation of Americans to public service, including me, an 8-year-old third-grader at the time of his death. President Kennedy served at a time when there was broad respect for the American government among its people and, unlike leaders today, Kennedy challenged Americans to sacrifice, to put the country first and to serve their fellow men and women. Kennedy is the subject of great media attention.

The 50th anniversary of the death of President John F.

Jfk book courage