Leadership Stories
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The Corporal in the Clover
Four days before the bloodiest day in American history, a corporal from Indiana handed his general the enemy's plan.
Two Clicks
An afternoon in Needham, Massachusetts, with the children of WWII veterans, and perspectives on D-Day 82 years later.
“I Can Hear You”
Twenty-five years ago, a president climbed onto a wrecked fire engine with a borrowed bullhorn and found his voice.
The Box That Almost Went in the Trash
A man in Waterloo, New York, nearly threw out a box. Inside: statements from 120 American POWs, missing since 1945.
Before They Went Ashore: The Mayflower
September 6, 1620: 102 people set out in one leaking ship. What they did before stepping ashore founded a country.
The Diplomat Who Built Leverage from Nothing
Benjamin Franklin arrived in Paris with nothing to bargain with. Seven years of relationships later, he signed the peace. The long game wins.
The Architect Who Rebuilt a City After Fire
Christopher Wren's plan for London was rejected. He spent 35 years rebuilding anyway, and the hidden structure still holds the dome up.
The Man Who Handed it Back
Frank Serpico wouldn't take the money everyone else took. For that, his own department left him to be shot.
The Unarmed Landing
August 30, 1945: MacArthur landed unarmed in a nation of 70 million enemies, and set the terms of the occupation in an hour.
Is Paris Burning?
Hitler ordered Paris destroyed, and the explosives were in place. One man refused to give the signal. Many others pushed him.
Old Ironsides
August 19, 1812: one American frigate against a British warship. Half an hour later, a discouraged country had its proof.
Be a Good Boy
It came down to one state, one deadlocked chamber, and a 24-year-old with a red rose and his mother's letter in his pocket.
Fulton’s Folly
A failed painter steamed up the Hudson while the crowd waited for him to sink. He didn't invent the steamboat. He made it work.
Stand in the Door!
August 16, 1940: forty-eight volunteers with no manual made the first official parachute jump in U.S. Army history. Airborne started with them.
The Quiet Photograph
At home the crowds filled the streets. In the Pacific, the men who'd done the fighting heard the news and sat down in silence.
Keep Your Mouth Shut
For four years the war in France barely moved. Then on a foggy morning near Amiens it moved eight miles before breakfast.
A Heart Made of Cloth (National Purple Heart Day)
August 7, 1782: George Washington created the first American military decoration a common soldier could earn. It was made of purple cloth.
Eighty-One Years
One aircraft and one bomb ended a war and opened a new age. Weeks earlier, its builders had asked the President to think twice.
Sixty-Three Days
August 1, 1944: Warsaw rose expecting help within a week. The help never came. What a city does when it discovers it's alone.
Four Days in the Water
The USS Indianapolis sank in twelve minutes after delivering the Hiroshima bomb. Correcting the record took 55 years and a 12-year-old.