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

Civility is not about dousing strongly held views. It's about making sure that people are willing to respect other perspectives.

I am appalled by the notion of cultural wars.

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

I think America is going to have to think through whether it wants to uplift the political dialogue or advance an approach that divides and, frankly, can lead to violence.

America somehow thinks that leadership relates to governance, and it certainly does. But society is much bigger than governance, and some of the truly great leadership of our society is outside the governance arena.

Civility is not simply about manners.