This is my first attempt at writing. I never considered myself a writer, but March 2013, when my sister, Sally, suggested that we get a local author to do a biography on our Dad, I fully agreed. So I started going through some videos of him speaking to the local Wharton Historical Society about the early days in Wharton, Texas. He had always been reluctant to talk much about the war experiences, as I had found many of his generation had been for many years. They tried to block out the bad experiences, and only remember the good times with some guys who they had really gotten close to during some really hard situations. I spoke to a local author several times and began taking notes, and recording conversations with the family, mostly Dad, and I really learned a lot that I either did not know, or had forgotten. Along the way, I began turning notes into a script, and filling in chapters, and with some encouragement from another author, Don Theye in South Dakota, a book began taking shape. Even now, as this book seems to be finished, it is still missing events and stories that are still coming to light, but I felt that it needed to be printed while Dad can also enjoy it. Thanks for reading. -Gene McCain
When I was working on my first book, "Everything's Rosy! The John N. McCain Story," about my Dad, I learned a lot that I did not previously know, and also learned a lot about my Grandfather, Joseph P. McCain, who I had not known at all. In fact, I learned enough to inspire me to continue researching his life with the goal of being able to record his life's history for future generations. I could see a lot of my Dad's character, work ethics, and principles that he had gotten from his father, even though he had passed away when his only son, John, was just 15. Dad is now 101, and these principles have been a part of his life for all these years, and I was hoping to uncover some of the sources. That also got me started working on several other books about people who had inspired me and been an influence on my life. The one person who I recalled influencing me most outside my immediate family was my uncle, Col. William C. Brewer. He was my Hero and also the one who sparked the flying bug in me. I just felt that this was a story that needed to be told and remembered, not just for our family, but for the many who can also be inspired by a real American Hero of the Greatest Generation. --Gene McCain, Proud Nephew
A biography of the two gifted Civil War commanders from a New York Times–bestselling author: “A great story . . . History at its best” (Publishers Weekly). Their names are forever linked in the history of the Civil War, but Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant could not have been more dissimilar. Lee came from a world of Southern gentility and aristocratic privilege while Grant had coarser, more common roots in the Midwest. As a young officer trained in the classic mold, Lee graduated from West Point at the top of his class and served with distinction in the Mexican–American War. Grant’s early military career was undistinguished and marred by rumors of drunkenness. As commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, Lee’s early victories demoralized the Union Army and cemented his reputation as a brilliant tactician. Meanwhile, Grant struggled mightily to reach the top of the Union command chain. His iron will eventually helped turn the tide of the war, however, and in April 1864, President Abraham Lincoln gave Grant command of all Union forces. A year later, he accepted Lee’s surrender at the Appomattox Court House. With brilliance and deep feeling, New York Times–bestselling author Gene Smith brings the Civil War era to vivid life and tells the dramatic story of two remarkable men as they rise to glory and reckon with the bitter aftermath of the bloodiest conflict in American history. Never before have students of American history been treated to a more personal, comprehensive, and achingly human portrait of Lee and Grant.
Brings to life the stories of legendary 'public enemies' for whom America's first supermax prison was created. This book contains answers to questions that have swirled about the prison: How did prisoners cope psychologically with the harsh regime? and What provoked the protests and strikes?
DO YOU LOVE ME: THE GENE GREGORITS FILE is an experimental literary anthology which contains nearly 70 accounts of the man from his enemies, friends, family, and -most tellingly of all- from his rapidly growing cult following, among them Dan Stuart of Green On Red, Lisa Carver of Rollerderby and Suckdog fame, and notorious body modification icon Ron Athey.
The modern presidency has become the central fault line of polarization in America because the president, increasingly, has the power to reshape vast swaths of American life. In The Cult of the Presidency, Gene Healy argues that “We, the People” are to blame. Americans on each side of the red-blue divide demand a president who can create jobs, teach our children well, tend to the “national soul”—and vanquish their culture-war enemies. Our political culture has invested the office with preposterously vast responsibilities, and as a result, the officeholder wields powers that no human being ought to have. In a new preface to the 2024 edition, Healy argues that the rise of partisan hatred lends new urgency to the cause of re-limiting executive power. In the years since Cult was first published, politics has gone feral, with polls showing that substantial majorities of Democrats and Republicans view members of the other party as “a serious threat to the United States and its people.” At the same time, the most powerful office in the world has grown even more so. That’s raised the stakes of our political differences dramatically: the issues that divide us most are now increasingly settled by whichever party manages to seize the office. In our partisan myopia, we’ve laid down the infrastructure for autocratic rule and sectarian warfare, making the presidency powerful enough to tear the country apart. Interweaving historical scholarship, legal analysis, and trenchant cultural commentary, The Cult of the Presidency traces America’s decades‐long drift from the Framers’ vision for the presidency: a constitutionally constrained chief magistrate charged with faithful execution of the laws. Restoring that vision will require a Congress and a Court willing to check executive power, but Healy emphasizes that there is no simple legislative or judicial fix. Unless Americans change what we ask of the office—no longer demanding what we should not want and cannot have—we’ll get what, in a sense, we deserve.
An unprecedented examination of how news stories, editorials and photographs in the American press—and the journalists responsible for them—profoundly changed the nation’s thinking about civil rights in the South during the 1950s and ‘60s. Roberts and Klibanoff draw on private correspondence, notes from secret meetings, unpublished articles, and interviews to show how a dedicated cadre of newsmen—black and white—revealed to a nation its most shameful shortcomings that compelled its citizens to act. Meticulously researched and vividly rendered, The Race Beat is an extraordinary account of one of the most calamitous periods in our nation’s history, as told by those who covered it.
Building Character is written for leaders who understand their responsibility to develop authentic leaders within their organizations. Without presenting an overarching moral code or a prescriptive code of behavior, this book offers leaders and managers a practical model complete with the tools, information, and processes to develop character in leaders at all levels. The author explains the role character plays in leadership success and effectiveness and outlines how character can be developed through the Five E's—Example, Education, Experience, Evaluation, and Environment.
A ground-breaking narrative history, which examines the never-before-told story of one of the most devastating battles of American involvement in World War I – the battle of Montfaucon. With Their Bare Hands traces the fate of the US 79th Division – men drafted off the streets of Baltimore, Washington, and Philadelphia – from boot camp in Maryland through the final years of World War I, focusing on their most famous engagement: the attack on Montfaucon, the most heavily fortified part of the German Line, during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in 1918. Using the 79th as a window into the American Army as a whole, Gene Fax examines its mistakes and triumphs, the tactics of its commander General John J. Pershing, and how the lessons it learned during the Great War helped it to fight World War II. Fax makes some startling judgments, on the role of future Army Chief-of-Staff, Colonel George C. Marshall; whether the Montfaucon battle – had it followed the plan – could have shortened the war; and if Pershing was justified in ordering his troops to attack right up to the moment of the Armistice. Drawing upon original documents, including orders, field messages, and the letters and memoirs of the soldiers themselves, Fax tells the engrossing story of the 79th Division's bloody involvement in the final months of World War I.
THE DESTRUCTION OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC - The first seven chapters document how the Republicans and Donald Trump have been working to destroy the Democracy our Founding Fathers established. The sources used are all all non-political and are sighted within the text. Chapter 8 lists changes the author believes are needed to save our republic based on the facts in the preceding seven chapters. This book is a no holds barred discussion of the real and present danger we face from Donald Trump and the far right. It is intended to inform voters of the truth about this danger and energize the majority to VOTE the Republicans out of office. That is the only way to protect the freedom we fought so hard to secure. The GOP is the PROBLEM and is nothing like the party of Lincoln or Eisenhower.
The first step is admitting that you have a Bush problem–and that you have ten bucks for this book. • Do you think that after eight years of George Bush, this country is in good shape? • Do you feel that the U.S. Constitution has too many Amendments? • Do you often dream of George Bush in a flight suit? If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, it’s time to seek help. In the tradition of the bestselling Bush Survival Bible, The 12-Step Bush Recovery Program is a lifesaving handbook that will help you recover from the Bush years. This vital guide to post-Bush era wellness features useful discussions of important issues such as Avoiding Relapse, Dealing with Embarrassment, Making Your Home a Recovery Zone, and Staging an Intervention. George W. Bush isn’t just a nuisance, he’s a problem that afflicts nearly three out of four Americans. So if you or someone you love has a Bush problem, know this: You don’t have to face it alone. Help is within reach. With The 12-Step Bush Recovery Program, you can share in the promise of a better you, a better America, a better world, and a better solar system. Does The 12-Step Bush Recovery Program work? Just look at these unsolicited testimonials: “The 12-Step Bush Recovery Program is the best book of its sort that I’ve ever read.” –G. Washington, Virginia “Every American should read this book in order to understand the depth of the problem as well as the need for a new president.” –A. Lincoln, Illinois “I liked this book, but I still don’t understand what it’s about.” –G. W. Bush, Texas “Read this book and I will shoot you.” –D. Cheney, Hades
President Bill Clinton's National Economic Adviser addresses the main issues that were at the center of debate in Bush's second term: Social security reform, outsourcing, and deficit reduction. After two consecutive elections in which Democratic candidates failed to turn clear economic advantages into electoral victory, a debate is raging over what the Democrats should do now. The narrow, red state-blue state argument between chest-beating populists and soulless centrists offers the answer to neither the country's economic future nor the political future of the Democrats. In The Pro-Growth Progressive,President Clinton's longest-serving national economic advisor, Gene Sperling, argues that the best economic strategy for our nation—and the best strategy for progressives whether they be Democrat, Republican, or Independent—is to pursue policies that are both progressive and pro-growth, that promote progressive values of upward mobility, fair starts, and economic dignity as well as embrace markets and innovation. Sperling describes how both parties offer the American public impoverished choices: Democrats in the-sky-is-falling party too often pretend that the way to promote progressive values and expand the American middle class is to slow the pace of the global economy, stop all outsourcing, and intervene in the market. Republicans of the don't-worry-be-happy party hold fast to the bankrupt vision that the best thing for economic growth is the smallest government possible, and have made the conservative deficit hawks of the 1990s an endangered species. But The Pro-Growth Progressive is neither an all-out assault on the Bush agenda nor a partisan call for Democrats to move further left. Both conservatives and progressives have to accept hard truths about the limitations of their approaches. Drawing on his years of policy experience, Sperling lays out a third way on the issues that are dominating the news and Bush's second term: social security, ownership, globalization, and deficit reduction. He explains the policy alternatives that respect the power of free markets while giving government a role in ensuring that the markets benefit all working families. Focused and timely, The Pro-Growth Progressive offers a realistic vision of free enterprise and economic growth in which government can improve education, reduce poverty, and restore the country to fiscal sanity.
Though the Mountains Tremble is a collection of random commentaries, from a biblical perspective, on issues and events in the contemporary world. Though most of the essays speak to specific events, they carry general observations that can provide insight into issues and events of any time. At the heart of these observations are a few basic assumptions--that God still works in history through nations and institutions, that God's purposes for the Creation are centered in Jesus Christ, that humankind was created to be God's representatives in caring for the world and all living things, that the crucial struggles in history are waged against the Powers and Principalities, and that both nations and individuals are held accountable to God for their actions. These reflections are rooted in the assumption that, although it is not an answer book or a spiritual almanac, the Bible bears testimony to the character of God and sets forth an ethos that can, if embraced, engender basic discernment in the midst of the world's chaos.
The political value of African American literature has long been a topic of great debate among American writers, both black and white, from Thomas Jefferson to Barack Obama. In his compelling new book, Representing the Race, Gene Andrew Jarrett traces the genealogy of this topic in order to develop an innovative political history of African American literature. Jarrett examines texts of every sort—pamphlets, autobiographies, cultural criticism, poems, short stories, and novels—to parse the myths of authenticity, popular culture, nationalism, and militancy that have come to define African American political activism in recent decades. He argues that unless we show the diverse and complex ways that African American literature has transformed society, political myths will continue to limit our understanding of this intellectual tradition. Cultural forums ranging from the printing press, schools, and conventions, to parlors, railroad cars, and courtrooms provide the backdrop to this African American literary history, while the foreground is replete with compelling stories, from the debate over racial genius in early American history and the intellectual culture of racial politics after slavery, to the tension between copyright law and free speech in contemporary African American culture, to the political audacity of Barack Obama’s creative writing. Erudite yet accessible, Representing the Race is a bold explanation of what’s at stake in continuing to politicize African American literature in the new millennium.
Although the history of armor in World War II has captured the attention of countless authors, no one has yet chronicled the extensive use of tanks in the Pacific--until now. In comprehensive detail Gene Eric Salecker describes the exploits of American tanks on the jungle islands where troops engaged in savage combat and encountered unforgiving weather and terrain. Stationed in the Philippines when the Japanese attacked the islands in 1941, the U.S. Army's independent tank battalions fought from the very start of the war. From New Guinea and the Solomons to the Ryukyus, American armor proved instrumental in winning World War II in the Pacific. First work dedicated solely to the use of Army tanks in the Pacific Theater Covers armor battles in the Philippines, Makin, the Solomons, Rabaul, New Guinea, Saipan, Guam, and Okinawa
Does the Bible teach Christians to avoid politics, as many claim? We are watching the greatness of America disappear and immorality is thriving. We are taught this is "God's will". A variety of scriptures are used to support this teaching but are they taught in context? This book does a very indepth study of these scriptures and argues that it is Satan, not God, who desires that Christians avoid politics. The purpose of this book is to show four satanic lies that the church is embracing. Politics is, in The United States, a means of performing our Christian mandate of being salt and light. Satan alone benefits from Christians not being involved in politics. He has crafted a deception that will permit him to build his coveted one world tyranny by neutralizing the church. If you believe this country was founded by Christians you cannot accept that it is wrong for Christians to be involved today. .
Whether you like it or not, Dick Cheney is our president. Whoops, we mean vice president. Now, just in time for hunting season, here’s an indispensable guide fully loaded with tips for surviving these tortuous Cheney years, including • 6 actions to take if you think someone is spying on you • 4 recipes for cooking quail • 4 public relations steps to take if you’ve shot someone • 9 things Halliburton is under investigation for • 6 ways to impeach a vice president • 7 things to do if your children exhibit Cheney-like behavior (other than send them hunting with the vice president) • 9 ways to profit financially from Cheney So take heart that we’re in the last throes, if you will, of the Cheney reign. Remember, the best kind of leader by far is a lame duck!
Includes observations on the performance of DoD's 2010 portfolio of 98 major defense acquisition programs; data on selected factors that can affect program outcomes; an assessment of the knowledge attained by key junctures in the acquisition process for a subset of 40 programs; and observations on the implementation of acquisition reforms. To conduct this review, the auditor analyzed cost, schedule, and quantity data and collected data from program offices on performance requirements and software development; technology, design, and manufacturing knowledge; and the implementation of DoD's acquisition policy and acquisition reforms. He also compiled assessments of 71 weapon programs. Charts and tables. This is a print on demand report.
Broken Promises and Lies of the Republicans: Reagan *Bush 43* Trump is intended to convince the American voter that conservative ideas are wrong for our country. We are faced with serious issues that must be solvedour huge deficit, tax reform, immigration, background checks for gun purchases, funding shortfall of Social Security and Medicare, rebuilding of our infrastructure and military, educating our children, and creating living wage jobs! The book cites facts to document that the conservative approach has failed to resolve any of them. This book also looks at Donald J. Trump and his impact on our country and the danger his actions poses to the Republic our Founding Fathers created. The sources that have been used are primarily US government agencies like Department of the Treasury, the CBO, OMB, and the Department of Labor. George Will, a prominent life-long Conservative Columnist, has said he will vote against Republicans in 2018.
Here is the reality: Bush won; Kerry lost. Here is your reaction: AA#RGH*HG@GHW&WGRWW!!?! Here is your salvation: The Bush Survival Bible Although many of you may try, you can’t really do anything about the election results. But you can do something about your postelection stress disorder. Here are 250 ways to help you get through the next four years. For instance: • Are you suicidal? Here are 5 antidepressants to consider. • Are you cold? Here are 6 reasons to love global warming. • Are you ready to leave the country? Here are 7 countries to move to. • Are you political? Here are 6 ways to get involved in local politics. • Are you spiritual? Here are 9 prayers to get you through the night. No matter who you are, no matter what you feel, there’s a solution for you. Yes, Bush won. But that doesn’t mean you have to lose. And remember, he can’t run for a third term. Just 1,461 days to go! Light a candle, don’t sweat the Bush stuff, and pray.
In the waning days of the Bush administration, the Cato Institute published Gene Healy’s The Cult of the Presidency: America’s Dangerous Devotion to Executive Power, which argued that the demands we place on the presidency have turned it into a constitutional monstrosity: too powerful to be trusted, and too weak to fulfill all the demands we invest in it. George Will called the book “the year’s most pertinent and sobering public affairs book”; and the Economist noted that it “was written while Barack Obama's career was still on the launch pad, yet it describes with uncanny prescience the atmosphere that allowed him to soar.” Now, with the 2012 presidential election upon us, in his timely new ebook False Idol: Barack Obama and the Continuing Cult of the Presidency, Healy examines the causes and consequences of a presidential cult. President Obama claims broad power over the U.S. economy; fires the CEO of General Motors; extends federal control over Americans’ health insurance plans; claims the power to launch wars without congressional authorization and assassinate American citizens abroad, far from any battlefield. False Idol demonstrates that the vision of the presidency Obama embodies has led to a dangerous concentration of power in an office primarily designed for faithful execution of the laws. Sharply focused and rigorously researched, False Idol is also a highly compelling examination of our national fixation with being led, comforted, and delivered by a presidential savior. Decades of longing for a national redeemer have forged an institution that promises everything and guarantees nothing, save public frustration and the steady growth of federal power. A constitutional restoration can only begin, Healy shows, when Americans turn away from false idols and false hope.
The Dept. of Energy (DoE) spends billions of dollars annually to clean up nuclear waste at sites that produced nuclear weapons from the 1940s through the end of the Cold War. This waste can threaten public health and the environment. Cleanup projects decontaminate and demolish buildings, remove and dispose of contaminated soil, treat contaminated groundwater, and stabilize and dispose of solid and liquid radioactive wastes, among other things. DoE was required to report on the status of the environmental mgmt. initiatives it has undertaken to more rapidly reduce the environmental risks and challenges resulting from the legacy of the Cold War. This report addresses the extent to which that report discusses the five elements called for under the Act.
Wildlife conservation through environmental means along with sustainable use is a relatively new practice in our country. Going back several thousand years we find conservation practices that are quite similar to today's in the Holy Bible.
Since 2001, Congress has appropriated about $640 billion for the global war on terrorism, the majority of this for operations in Iraq. In Jan. 2007, the Pres. announced ¿The New Way Forward¿ to stem violence in Iraq and enable the Iraqi gov¿t. to foster national reconciliation. This new strategy established goals and objectives to achieve over 12 to 18 months, or by July 2008. This report discusses progress in meeting key goals in ¿The New Way Forward¿: (1) improve security conditions; (2) develop capable Iraqi security forces and help the Iraqi gov¿t.; (3) enact key legislation; (4) spend capital budgets; and (5) provide essential services. Also discusses U.S. strategies for Iraq. Includes recommendations. Charts and tables.
Dan Showalter was Speaker Pro Tem of the California State Assembly at the outbreak of the Civil War and the exemplar of treason in the Far West among the pro-Union press. He gained notoriety as the survivor of California's last political (and actual, fatal) duel, for his role in the display of a Confederate flag in Sacramento, and for his imprisonment after an armed confrontation with Union troops. Escaping to Texas, he distinguished himself in the Confederate service in naval battles and in pursuit of Comanche raiders. As commander of the 4th Arizona Cavalry, he helped recapture the Rio Grande Valley from the Union and defended Brownsville against a combined Union and Mexican force. Refusing to surrender at war's end, he fled to Mexico, where he died of a wound sustained in a drunken bar fight at age 35.
“Timely and important . . . It should be our North Star for the recovery and beyond.” —Hillary Clinton “Sperling makes a forceful case that only by speaking to matters of the spirit can liberals root their belief in economic justice in people’s deepest aspirations—in their sense of purpose and self-worth.” —The New York Times When Gene Sperling was in charge of coordinating economic policy in the Obama White House, he found himself surprised when serious people in Washington told him that the Obama focus on health care was a distraction because it was “not focused on the economy.” How, he asked, was the fear felt by millions of Americans of being one serious illness away from financial ruin not considered an economic issue? Too often, Sperling found that we measured economic success by metrics like GDP instead of whether the economy was succeeding in lifting up the sense of meaning, purpose, fulfillment, and security of people. In Economic Dignity, Sperling frames the way forward in a time of wrenching change and offers a vision of an economy whose guiding light is the promotion of dignity for all Americans.
The U.S. has provided $38.6 billion in reconstruction assistance to Afghanistan and has over 35,000 troops in the country as of Feb. 2009. Some progress has occurred in areas such as econ. growth, infrastructure dev¿t., and training of the Afghan Nat. Security Forces, but the overall security situation has not improved after more than 7 years of U.S. and internat. efforts. Key issues for consideration for Congress in determining the way forward in Afghanistan include: (1) U.S. and internat. commitments;(2) Security environ.; (3) U.S. forces and equip.; (4) Afghan nat. security forces; (5) Counternarcotics efforts; (6) Economic dev¿t.; (7) Gov¿t. capacity; (8) Accountability for U.S. provided weapons; and (9) Oversight of contractor performance.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.