No Higher Honor

Author: Condoleezza Rice
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307986780
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 786

Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the former national security advisor and secretary of state comes a “sharp and penetrating . . . reminder that foreign-policy choices facing the United States are complex and difficult, with no easy solutions” (The Washington Post). A native of Birmingham, Alabama, who overcame the racism of the civil rights era to become a brilliant academic and expert on foreign affairs, Condoleezza Rice first distinguished herself as an advisor to George W. Bush during the 2000 presidential campaign, and eventually became one of his closest confidantes. Once he was elected, she served first as his chief advisor on national security issues and later as America’s chief diplomat. From the aftermath of September 11, 2001, when she stood at the center of the administration’s efforts to protect the nation, to her efforts as secretary of state to manage the world’s volatile relationships with North Korea, Iran, and Libya, her service to America led her to confront some of the worst crises the country has ever faced. This is her unflinchingly honest story of that remarkable time, from what really went on behind closed doors when the fates of Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and Lebanon often hung in the balance and how frighteningly close all-out war loomed in clashes involving Pakistan-India and Russia-Georgia, to her candid appraisal of her colleagues and contemporaries. In No Higher Honor, Condoleezza Rice delivers a master class in statecraft—but always in a way that reveals her essential warmth and humility and her deep reverence for the ideals on which America was founded.

No Higher Honor

Author: Bradley Peniston
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
ISBN: 1612512771
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 326

Book Description
Like its World War II namesake of Leyte Gulf fame, USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58) was a small combatant built for escort duty. But its skipper imbued his brand-new crew with a fighting spirit to match their forebears, and in 1988 when the guided missile frigate was thrust into the Persian Gulf at the height of the Iran-Iraq War, there was no better ship for the job. Forbidden to fire unless fired upon, Captain Paul Rinn and his crew sailed amid the chaos in the Gulf for two months, relying on wit and nerve to face down fighter jets and warships bent on the destruction of civilian vessels. Their sternest test came when an Iranian mine ripped open the ship's engine room, ignited fires on four decks, and plunged the ship into darkness. The crew's bravery and cool competence was credited with keeping the ship afloat, and its actions have become part of Navy lore and a staple of naval leadership courses ever since. This is the first book to record the Roberts' extraordinary tale. After years of research and interviews with crewmembers, journalist Bradley Peniston chronicles the crew's heroic efforts to save the ship as they fought flames and flooding well into the night. The author also describes the frigate's origins, its operational history, and the crew's training. Peniston's personal approach to the subject not only breathes life into the historical narrative but gives readers an opportunity to get to know the individuals involved and understand the U.S. retaliation to the mining and the battle that evolved, setting the stage for conflicts to come.

Extraordinary, Ordinary People

Author: Condoleezza Rice
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307888479
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 386

Book Description
This is the story of Condoleezza Rice that has never been told, not that of an ultra-accomplished world leader, but of a little girl--and a young woman--trying to find her place in a sometimes hostile world, of two exceptional parents, and an extended family and community that made all the difference. Condoleezza Rice has excelled as a diplomat, political scientist, and concert pianist. Her achievements run the gamut from helping to oversee the collapse of communism in Europe and the decline of the Soviet Union, to working to protect the country in the aftermath of 9-11, to becoming only the second woman--and the first black woman ever--to serve as Secretary of State. But until she was 25 she never learned to swim, because when she was a little girl in Birmingham, Alabama, Commissioner of Public Safety Bull Connor decided he'd rather shut down the city's pools than give black citizens access. Throughout the 1950's, Birmingham's black middle class largely succeeded in insulating their children from the most corrosive effects of racism, providing multiple support systems to ensure the next generation would live better than the last. But by 1963, Birmingham had become an environment where blacks were expected to keep their head down and do what they were told--or face violent consequences. That spring two bombs exploded in Rice’s neighborhood amid a series of chilling Klu Klux Klan attacks. Months later, four young girls lost their lives in a particularly vicious bombing. So how was Rice able to achieve what she ultimately did? Her father, John, a minister and educator, instilled a love of sports and politics. Her mother, a teacher, developed Condoleezza’s passion for piano and exposed her to the fine arts. From both, Rice learned the value of faith in the face of hardship and the importance of giving back to the community. Her parents’ fierce unwillingness to set limits propelled her to the venerable halls of Stanford University, where she quickly rose through the ranks to become the university’s second-in-command. An expert in Soviet and Eastern European Affairs, she played a leading role in U.S. policy as the Iron Curtain fell and the Soviet Union disintegrated. Less than a decade later, at the apex of the hotly contested 2000 presidential election, she received the exciting news--just shortly before her father’s death--that she would go on to the White House as the first female National Security Advisor. As comfortable describing lighthearted family moments as she is recalling the poignancy of her mother’s cancer battle and the heady challenge of going toe-to-toe with Soviet leaders, Rice holds nothing back in this remarkably candid telling.

No Higher Honor

Author: Jeff Nesmith
Publisher: Longstreet Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 296

Book Description
Young and idealistic, the men who carried the sea battle that turned the war with Japan brought with them an uncluttered sense of purpose, patriotism and love of country. This is their story.

Democracy

Author: Condoleezza Y Rice
Publisher: Hachette+ORM
ISBN: 1455540196
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 403

Book Description
From the former secretary of state and bestselling author -- a sweeping look at the global struggle for democracy and why America must continue to support the cause of human freedom. "This heartfelt and at times very moving book shows why democracy proponents are so committed to their work...Both supporters and skeptics of democracy promotion will come away from this book wiser and better informed." -- The New York Times From the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union to the ongoing struggle for human rights in the Middle East, Condoleezza Rice has served on the front lines of history. As a child, she was an eyewitness to a third awakening of freedom, when her hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, became the epicenter of the civil rights movement for black Americans. In this book, Rice explains what these epochal events teach us about democracy. At a time when people around the world are wondering whether democracy is in decline, Rice shares insights from her experiences as a policymaker, scholar, and citizen, in order to put democracy's challenges into perspective. When the United States was founded, it was the only attempt at self-government in the world. Today more than half of all countries qualify as democracies, and in the long run that number will continue to grow. Yet nothing worthwhile ever comes easily. Using America's long struggle as a template, Rice draws lessons for democracy around the world -- from Russia, Poland, and Ukraine, to Kenya, Colombia, and the Middle East. She finds that no transitions to democracy are the same because every country starts in a different place. Pathways diverge and sometimes circle backward. Time frames for success vary dramatically, and countries often suffer false starts before getting it right. But, Rice argues, that does not mean they should not try. While the ideal conditions for democracy are well known in academia, they never exist in the real world. The question is not how to create perfect circumstances but how to move forward under difficult ones. These same insights apply in overcoming the challenges faced by governments today. The pursuit of democracy is a continuing struggle shared by people around the world, whether they are opposing authoritarian regimes, establishing new democratic institutions, or reforming mature democracies to better live up to their ideals. The work of securing it is never finished. NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

No Tougher Duty, No Greater Honor

Author: GySgt L. Bussler
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781546604938
Category : Iraq War, 2003-2011
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
2018 NGIBA Finalist for Military category and Finalist for Autobiography in the 2018 Readers' Favorite Awards!! - An autobiographical account of one US Marine Reservists tours as a Mortuary Affairs Marine. His story begins in 2002 as an everyday postal letter carrier in Springfield, Ohio when he gets the call to muster. In the next three years, his life is thrust onto the world stage as an active participant in combat. His unique perspective as a MA (Mortuary Affairs) Marine puts him and his fellow teammates directly into the path of war. Told in first person view, read what it was like to witness a despotic regime crumble, walk the streets of terrorist held cities on foot patrols, go on Search and Recovery missions to recover the fallen off of battlefields, and feel the sting of loss of a friend to the harsh realities of war. These are the stories that are never spoken, by a Marine who was there, to return the fallen home with honor.

Shaking the Gates of Hell

Author: John Archibald
Publisher: Knopf
ISBN: 0525658114
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 321

Book Description
On growing up in the American South of the 1960s—an all-American white boy—son of a long line of Methodist preachers, in the midst of the civil rights revolution, and discovering the culpability of silence within the church. By the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and columnist for The Birmingham News. "My dad was a Methodist preacher and his dad was a Methodist preacher," writes John Archibald. "It goes all the way back on both sides of my family. When I am at my best, I think it comes from that sermon place." Everything Archibald knows and believes about life is "refracted through the stained glass of the Southern church. It had everything to do with people. And fairness. And compassion." In Shaking the Gates of Hell, Archibald asks: Can a good person remain silent in the face of discrimination and horror, and still be a good person? Archibald had seen his father, the Rev. Robert L. Archibald, Jr., the son and grandson of Methodist preachers, as a moral authority, a moderate and a moderating force during the racial turbulence of the '60s, a loving and dependable parent, a forgiving and attentive minister, a man many Alabamians came to see as a saint. But was that enough? Even though Archibald grew up in Alabama in the heart of the civil rights movement, he could recall few words about racial rights or wrongs from his father's pulpit at a time the South seethed, and this began to haunt him. In this moving and powerful book, Archibald writes of his complex search, and of the conspiracy of silence his father faced in the South, in the Methodist Church and in the greater Christian church. Those who spoke too loudly were punished, or banished, or worse. Archibald's father was warned to guard his words on issues of race to protect his family, and he did. He spoke to his flock in the safety of parable, and trusted in the goodness of others, even when they earned none of it, rising through the ranks of the Methodist Church, and teaching his family lessons in kindness and humanity, and devotion to nature and the Earth. Archibald writes of this difficult, at times uncomfortable, reckoning with his past in this unadorned, affecting book of growth and evolution.

Madam Secretary

Author: Madeleine Albright
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062265474
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 550

Book Description
“One of the most diverting political bios in recent memory.” -- Entertainment Weekly Revised and updated with a new epilogue, Madam Secretary is the moving and inspiring memoir of one of the most distinguished public figures in American history, seven-time New York Times bestselling author and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright A national bestseller on its first publication in 2003, Madam Secretary is the riveting personal story of former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. For eight years, during Bill Clinton’s two presidential terms, Albright was an active participant in some of the most dramatic events of our time—from the pursuit of peace in the Middle East to NATO’s humanitarian intervention in Kosovo. In this thoughtful memoir, one of the most admired women in American history shares her remarkable story, including thoughts on her upbringing in Czechoslovakia and her role as a wife and mother, and provides an insider’s view on global affairs during this period of extraordinary turbulence. Madam Secretary offers an inimitable blend of Albright’s warm humor, personal recollection, and riveting insight on events that shaped our nation and our world.

Inside the Danger Zone

Author: Harold Lee Wise
Publisher: US Naval Institute Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 310

Book Description
In May 1987, an Iraqi plane fired two missiles into USS Stark, a lone U.S. Navy frigate on patron in the Gulf. The missiles severely damaged the ship and killed thirty-seven sailors. This deadly attack, which Iraq claimed was accidental, brought heightened attention to the Persian Gulf and heralded the beginning of a new era in U.S. Middle Eastern policy. From then until the end of the Iran-Iraq War, American forces carried out an unprecedented series of military operations in the Gulf. A planned tanker protection missile evolved into a naval quasi-war with Iran and culminated in the largest sea-air battle since World War II. Inside the Danger Zone is a history of U.S. military involvement in the Persian Gulf in 1987 and 1988-a time of burning ships, air strikes, and secret missions-the prelude to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, Desert Storm, and the most recent invasion of Iraq.

A Higher Loyalty

Author: James Comey
Publisher: Flatiron Books
ISBN: 1250192463
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 303

Book Description
#1 New York Times Bestseller now in paperback with new material The inspiration for The Comey Rule, the Showtime limited series starring Jeff Daniels premiering September 2020 In his book, former FBI director James Comey shares his never-before-told experiences from some of the highest-stakes situations of his career in the past two decades of American government, exploring what good, ethical leadership looks like, and how it drives sound decisions. His journey provides an unprecedented entry into the corridors of power, and a remarkable lesson in what makes an effective leader. Mr. Comey served as director of the FBI from 2013 to 2017, appointed to the post by President Barack Obama. He previously served as U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and the U.S. deputy attorney general in the administration of President George W. Bush. From prosecuting the Mafia and Martha Stewart to helping change the Bush administration's policies on torture and electronic surveillance, overseeing the Hillary Clinton e-mail investigation as well as ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, Comey has been involved in some of the most consequential cases and policies of recent history.