Nixon regarded himself as having been cheated by life. He never got my vote.

At the core, the American citizen soldiers knew the difference between right and wrong, and they didn't want to live in a world in which wrong prevailed. So they fought, and won, and we all of us, living and yet to be born, must be forever profoundly grateful.

Winning the Revolutionary War, or the Civil War, or World War II were the turning points in our history, the sine qua non of our forward progress.

Even before Watergate and his resignation, Nixon had inspired conflicting and passionate emotions.

Jefferson owned slaves. He did not believe that all were created equal. He was a racist.

In one of his last newsletters, Mike Ranney wrote: "In thinking back on the days of Easy Company, I'm treasuring my remark to a grandson who asked, 'Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?' No,'" I answered, 'but I served in a company of heroes.

To be a slaveholder meant one had to regard the African American as inferior in every way.