I had the good fortune to meet David Gergen while a graduate student at Harvard 15 years ago while doing a special project at the Center for Public Leadership he founded there. I was impressed with his leadership then and am doubly so now. Having served 4 presidents and later becoming a CNN analyst, he has credible first-hand experiences worthy of our attention about leading and leadership. From stories about how those four presidents conducted their professional and personal lives, how they made decisions and how they energized their capable staffs, Gergen’s inspirational prose has readers riveted and inspired. Deep dive looks at the lives of John McCain, Abraham Lincoln, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Harvey Milk, Frederick Douglas, JFK, Winston Churchill, Eleanor and FDR, Greta Thunberg, Black Lives Matter movement are among those highlighted for their courage and leadership—standing tall and courageous among their peers and followers. This is a book we desperately need during times in which courageous moral leadership seems lacking. The title is drawn from a Memorial Day speech given by Civil War veteran and future Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., on May 30th, 1884: “Through our great good fortune, in our youth our hearts were touched with fire. It was given to us to learn at the outset that life is a profound and passionate thing.”
Brig. Gen. Chad T. Manske, USAF (Ret.) is Chairman at Daedalian Foundation and a strategy and logistics consultant. Previously, he was the 30th Commandant of the National War College, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C. As the commandant, Brig. Gen. Manske was responsible for formulating academic policies, supervising curriculum planning, preparation and ensuring excellence in classroom teaching.