Maybe as times get worse we get better. Our pain makes us feel other people's too; our fear lets us practice valor; we are tense, and tender as well. And among the things we can no longer afford are things we never really wanted anyway.

Eisenhower advocated a variety of strong actions which he had never taken when he was president. Maybe this was just the pattern of former presidents; maybe it reflected how much the circumstances had changed on the ground.

There may be no less original idea than the notion that our hearts hold dominion over our heads.

The challenge was that it was harder to be subtle than strident.

A president cant go to every memorial service.

If Heaven is willing to sing to us, it is little to ask that we be ready to listen.

Lyndon Johnson realized he really was President, that his identity had changed by President Kennedy's shocking death, when aides who had been like family to him minutes before, stood in his presence on Air Force One.