Terry Newell is currently director of his own firm, Leadership for a Responsible Society. His work focuses on values-based leadership, ethics, and decision making. A former Air Force officer, Terry also previously served as Director of the Horace Mann Learning Center, the training arm of the U.S. Department of Education, and as Dean of Faculty at the Federal Executive Institute. Terry is co-editor and author of The Trusted Leader: Building the Relationships That Make Government Work (CQ Press, 2011). He also wrote Statesmanship, Character and Leadership in America (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) and To Serve with Honor: Doing the Right Thing in Government (Loftlands Press 2015).
President Kennedy learned from his disastrous decision to launch the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1961, and that learning helped him successfully navigate the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
In his 1838 Lyceum Address, Abraham Lincoln warned of the danger of the “mobocratic” spirit and urged the use of “sober reason” to preserve the republic.
The power of the Constitution to protect democracy depends on the private and public virtue of Americans and their leaders. The Constitution’s words alone are not enough.
Recent charges that Social Security is riddled with problems mislead Americans. Only careful thinking can help us understand the situation correctly.
Born into poverty, Cesar Chavez fought for the dignity and rights of farmworkers, using the tools of organizing and nonviolence.
Public service is an honorable profession. It is a calling, not just a job, and those who practice this calling deserve the respect of their leaders and all Americans.
In uncertain times, we crave certainty in politics. That craving can be dangerous when it cuts off thinking and then leads to bad policies.
In the course of American history, the Constitution has been a vehicle to promote diversity, equity and inclusion. It also offers a vehicle to address the controversy over D.E.I. today.
An aging Jimmy Carter and a critically ill, young Mattie Stepanek forged a friendship that demonstrated the best of America.
The focus of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on cutting budgets and staff ignores the question of how those cuts will impact the effectiveness of the programs that remain.
Amidst Joe McCarthy’s attacks on public servants for unsubstantiated ties to communism, Senator Margaret Chase Smith rose to remind colleagues about the dangers of fear, ignorance, bigotry and smears.
The framers of the Constitution wanted to make sure the president did not become too powerful. That’s not where we are today - and we need to be careful.
The rule of law, essential to a healthy American democracy, is under severe strain.
How we treat illegal immigrants whose removal is sanctioned by law tests whether we abide by religious precepts to honor the dignity of strangers.
Benjamin Rush was ahead of his time in thinking about many issues, from treatment of the mentally ill to the education of women to the need to abolish slavery.
The President and Senate must honor their Constitutional roles to assure those names to high office have the character and competence to safeguard democracy.
As one year closes and another is about to be born, may these treasures of music and dance bring you joy in sharing what people can bring to each other.
Young people are not learning enough about civics to assure they can handle the responsibility they will have for the future of democracy.
After the nasty presidential campaign of 1800, Thomas Jefferson emerged victorious. In his inaugural address, he encouraged the nation to heal their divisions and recall what they shared.
Partisan political hatreds stoked by politicians and social media close our minds to the possibility that some of what we think of the opposition is wrong.
