If you read literature, you put yourself in somebody else's shoes. You learn from great figures in literature.

America is very decentralized in how it supports the humanities, unlike European countries where virtually everything stems from the central government.

There's probably a little greater case for pessimism than optimism. But I do not rule out optimism.

History provides a sense of where we've been and lessons that can be taken forward.

The majority of U.S. high school students don't know within 50 years when the Civil War occurred.

It is hard to cement any relations with any country based on promises that may not be deliverable.

Politics has high and low moments. Sometimes it brings out the better angels of our nature; sometimes baser instincts.