The complete American presidential inaugural addressesfeaturing historical background by a National Book Awardwinner A testament to the power of oratory, this stirring and oftensurprising collection includes all fifty-five United Statespresidential inaugural addresses, as well as a general introductionand commentary that provides historical context for each speech.Marking pivotal moments in American history, readers willlearn: ? How George Washington came to ad-lib “So help me, God” at theend of his first inaugural address ? Why Thomas Jefferson’s first inaugural address is consideredone of the finest ever delivered ? The historical background behind Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Theonly thing we have to fear is fear itself” and John F. Kennedy’s “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what youcan do for your country.”

“Saudi Arabia is more and more an irrational state—a place thatspawns global terrorism even as it succumbs to an ancient anddeeply seated isolationism, a kingdom led by a royal family thatcan’t get out of the way of its own greed. Is this the fulcrum wewant the global economy to balance on?” In his explosive New York Times bestseller, See No Evil ,former CIA operative Robert Baer exposed how Washington politicsdrastically compromised the CIA’s efforts to fight globalterrorism. Now in his powerful new book, Sleeping with the Devil,Baer turns his attention to Saudi Arabia, revealing how ourgovernment’s cynical relationship with our Middle Eastern ally andAmerica’ s dependence on Saudi oil make us increasingly vulnerableto economic disaster and put us at risk for further acts ofterrorism. For decades, the United States and Saudi Arabia have been locked ina “harmony of interests.” America counted on the Saudis for cheapoil, political stability in the Middle East, and lucrative businessrelati

“Uttering lines that send liberals into paroxysms of rage,otherwise known as ‘citing facts,’ is the spice of life. When I seethe hot spittle flying from their mouths and the veins bulging andpulsing above their eyes, well, that’s when I feel trulyalive.” So begins If Democrats Had Any Brains, They’d Be Republicans, AnnCoulter’s funniest, most devastating, and, yes, most outrageousbook to date. Coulter has become the brightest star in the conservativefirmament thanks to her razor-sharp reasoning and biting wit. Ofcourse, practically any time she opens her mouth, liberal elitesdenounce Ann, insisting that “She’s gone too far!” and hopefullypredicting that this time it will bring a crashing end to hercareer. Now you can read all the quotes that have so outraged her enemiesand so delighted her legions of fans. More than just the definitivecollection of Coulterisms, If Democrats Had Any Brains, They’d BeRepublicans includes dozens of brand-new commentaries written byC

Using information and techniques gathered by the InternationalSpy Museum and an ex-CIA agent, this book shows how the tricks andmethods used by spies can be incorporated into everyday life, suchas how to hide valuables in your home or how to avoid carjacking orpickpockets.

In The Breakthrough , veteran journalist Gwen Ifillsurveys the American political landscape, shedding new light on theimpact of Barack Obama’s stunning presidential victory andintroducing the emerging young African American politicians forginga bold new path to political power. Ifill argues that the Black political structure formed during theCivil Rights movement is giving way to a generation of men andwomen who are the direct beneficiaries of the struggles of the1960s. She offers incisive, detailed profiles of such prominentleaders as Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Massachusetts Governor DevalPatrick, and U.S. Congressman Artur Davis of Alabama (allinterviewed for this book), and also covers numerous up-and-comingfigures from across the nation. Drawing on exclusive interviewswith power brokers such as President Obama, former Secretary ofState Colin Powell, Vernon Jordan, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, hisson Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., and many others, as well as herown razor-sharp observations an

This definitive edition of the original "Robert's" presentsrules of order, motions, debate, conduct of business, andadjournment. All problems of conducting a successful meetingsmoothly and fairly are resolved.

On July 26, 1996, the United States Supreme Court nullifiedthe single-sex admissions policy of the Virginia MilitaryInstitute, the last all-male military college in America. Capturingthe voices of female and male cadets, administrators, faculty, andalumni, Laura Brodie tells the story of the Institute's intenseplanning for the inclusion of women and the problems and triumphsof the first year of coeducation.

Mike May spent his life crashing through. Blinded at agethree, he defied expectations by breaking world records in downhillspeed skiing, joining the CIA, and becoming a successful inventor,entrepreneur, and family man. He had never yearned for vision.Then, in 1999, a chance encounter brought startling news: arevolutionary stem cell transplant surgery could restore May’svision. It would allow him to drive, to read, to see his children’sfaces. But the procedure was filled with gambles, some of themdeadly, others beyond May’s wildest dreams. Beautifully written andthrillingly told, Crashing Through is a journey of suspense,daring, romance, and insight into the mysteries of vision and thebrain. Robert Kurson gives us a fascinating account of one man’schoice to explore what it means to see–and to truly live.NAMED ONEOF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Warfighting is an authentic American philosophy ofaction that will thrill the millions of fans of SunTzu's The Artof War and Musashi's T he Book of Five Rings . Thismodern classic of strategy and philosophy is the quintessentialguide to prevailing in competitive situations, be it war, work,play, or daily living. Sometimes life is war and sometimes business is war andsometimes you need to call in the Marines. Over the past twohundred years, the Marines have developed a reputation for gettingthe job done-fearlessly, boldly, and taking no prisoners. Whatbetter role model for the hidden warriors in ourselves? What betteradvice to call on when the stakes are high and sensitivity justisn't going to work? Written in 1989 as a philosophical andstrategic guide-book for the US. Marine Corps, Warfighting is a worthy successor to SunTzu's The Art Of War . Withclarity, brevity, and wisdom, it describes the basic forces at workin every competitive situation whether on the field of battle, inthe boardro

From its earliest days, America served as an arena for therevolutions in alternative spirituality that eventually swept theglobe. Esoteric philosophies and personas—from Freemasonry toSpiritualism, from Madame H. P. Blavatsky to EdgarCayce—dramatically altered the nation’s culture, politics, andreligion. Yet the mystical roots of our identity are often ignoredor overlooked. Opening a new window on the past, OccultAmerica presents a dramatic, pioneering study of the esotericundercurrents of our history and their profound impact acrossmodern life.

In America’s battle against al-Qaeda and their allies, thegoal of the Navy SEALs is to be the best guns in thefight—stealthy, effective, professional, and lethal. Here for thefirst time is a SEAL insider’s battle history of these SpecialOperations warriors in the war on terrorism. “Down range” is what SEALs in Afghanistan and Iraq call theirarea of operations. In this new mode of warfare, “down range” canrefer to anything from tracking roving bands of al-Qaeda on aremote mountain trail in Afghanistan to taking down an armedcompound in Tikrit and rousting holdouts from Saddam Hussein’sregime. It could mean interdicting insurgents smuggling car-bombexplosives over the Iraqi-Syrian border or silently boarding afreighter on the high seas at night to enforce an embargo. In otherwords, “down range” could be anywhere, anytime, under anyconditions. In Down Range , author Dick Couch, himself a former Navy SEALand CIA case officer, uses his unprecedented access to bring thereader firs

It’s not an exaggeration to say that middle-class Americansare an endangered species and that the American Dream of a secure,comfortable standard of living has become as outdated as an Edselwith an eight-track player. That the United States of Americais in danger of becoming a third world nation. The evidence is all around us: Our industrial base is vanishing, taking with it the kind of jobsthat have formed the backbone of our economy for more than acentury; our education system is in shambles, making it harder fortomorrow’s workforce to acquire the information and training itneeds to land good twenty-first century jobs; ourinfrastructure—our roads, our bridges, our sewage and water, ourtransportation and electrical systems—is crumbling; our economicsystem has been reduced to recurring episodes of Corporations GoneWild; our political system is broken, in thrall to a smallfinancial elite using the power of the checkbook to control bothparties. And America’s middle class, the

The Watergate scandal began with a break-in at the office ofthe Democratic National Committee at the Watergate Hotel on June17, 1971, and ended when President Gerald Ford granted Richard M.Nixon a pardon on September 8, 1974, one month after Nixon resignedfrom office in disgrace. Effectively removed from the reach ofprosecutors, Nixon returned to California, uncontrite andunconvicted, convinced that time would exonerate him of anywrongdoing and certain that history would remember his greataccomplishments—the opening of China and the winding down of theVietnam War—and forget his “mistake,” the “pipsqueak thing” calledWatergate. In 1977, three years after his resignation, Nixon agreed to aseries of interviews with television personality David Frost.Conducted over twelve days, they resulted in twenty-eight hours oftaped material, which were aired on prime-time television andwatched by more than 50 million people worldwide. Nixon, a skilledlawyer by training, was paid $1 million for the i

“This is a thriller, a page-turner, a probing look into theinner workings of the assassination squads that Israel mobilizedafter the Munich massacre.” –David K. Shipler, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Arab andJew “Gratitude is due to Mr. Klein for his painstaking . . . book, thebest one could possibly hope for.” –Walter Lacquer, The Wall Street Journal Award-winning journalist Aaron J. Klein tells, for the firsttime, the complete story of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre andthe Israeli counterterrorism operation it spawned. Withunprecedented access to Mossad agents and an nparalleled knowledgeof Israeli intelligence, Klein peels back the layers of myth andmisinformation that have permeated previous books, films, andmagazine articles about the “shadow war” against Black Septemberand other related terrorist groups. In this riveting account,long-held secrets are finally revealed, including who was killedand who was not, how it was done, which targets were hit and whichwere m

Commemorating the 200th anniversary of Lincoln s birth, hereis his extraordinary story as only the Smithsonian could tell it,featuring the unpublished Lincoln collections at the NationalMuseum of American History. For the first time, the Smithsonian is publishing its unparalleledLincoln collection. Its many historical treasures include: Lincolns top hat, his gold pocket watch from his days as a Springfieldlawyer, the inkstand he used to draft the EmancipationProclamation, his patent model for lifting boats, one of MaryLincoln s White House gowns and jewelry, and prison hoods andshackles worn by the Lincoln conspirators. With more than 125 colorphotographs, Abraham Lincoln: An Extraordinary Life tells a new andintimate story of the life and legacy of this remarkable Americanicon.

In this provocative and timely book, Middle East expert LeeSmith overturns long-held Western myths and assumptions about theArab world, offering advice for America’s future success in theregion. Seeking the motivation behind the September 11 attacks, Smithmoved to Cairo, where he discovered that the standard explanation—aclash of East and West—was simply not the case. Middle Eastconflicts have little to do with Israel, the United States, or theWest in general, but are endemic to the region. According toSmith’s “Strong Horse Doctrine,” the Arab world naturally alignsitself with strength, power, and violence. He argues that Americamust be the strong horse in order to reclaim its role there, andthat only by understanding the nature of the region’s ancientconflict can we succeed.

Start your workout today with the US Navy SEALs! The Official United States Navy SEAL Workout presents an accuratedocumentation of the demanding physical training (or P.T., as it'sknown in military circles) that students encounter at BUD/S. Thephysical expectations of BUD/S graduates are awesome...but they areachievable, as this book demonstrates. You'll learn what it's like to be a SEAL in this incredible bookthat brings together the fitness requirements, history, andtraditions of the US Navy SEALs. Whether you're seriously intoexercising or just want to start a personal fitness program, youcan follow this All-American workout to strengthen and tone yourentire body! You'll find: * Workouts you can perform at home, the gym or on the road * Tips on stretching, lower and upper body workouts, andabdominal workouts * Intense photos of SEALs as they prepare for missions around theworld * What it takes to become a Navy SEAL ...and more!

Jefferson Davis is one of the most complex and controversialfigures in American political history (and the man whom Oscar Wildewanted to meet more than anyone when he made his tour of the UnitedStates). Elected president of the Confederacy and later accused ofparticipating in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, he is asource of ongoing dissension between northerners and southerners.This volume, the first of its kind, is a selected collection of hiswritings culled in large part from the authoritative Papers ofJefferson Davis , a multivolume edition of his letters andspeeches published by the Louisiana State University Press, andincludes thirteen documents from manu* collections and oneprivately held document that have never before appeared in a modernscholarly edition. From letters as a college student to his sister,to major speeches on the Constitution, slavery, and sectionalissues, to his farewell to the U.S. Senate, to his inauguraladdress as Confederate president, to letters from prison to hiswif

A gripping and unforgettable true story of bravery andpatriotism in the face of bitter hatred. Abraham Bolden was a young African American Secret Service agentin Chicago when he was asked by John F. Kennedy himself to join theWhite House Secret Service detail. For Bolden, it was a dream cometrue–and an encouraging sign of the charismatic president’s visionfor a new America. But the dream quickly turned sour. Bolden found himself regularlysubjected to open hostility and blatant racism, and he was appalledby the White House team’s irresponsible approach to security. Inthe wake of JFK’s assassination, Bolden sought to expose theagency’s negligence, only to find himself the victim of a sinisterconspiracy. The Echo from Dealey Plaza is the story of the terribleprice paid by one man for his commitment to truth and justice.

Before September 11, 2001, one terrorist group had killed moreAmericans than any other: Hezbollah, the “Party of God.” Today itremains potentially more dangerous than even al Qaeda. Yet littlehas been known about its inner workings, past successes, and futureplans–until now. Written by an accomplished journalist and a law-enforcementexpert, Lightning Out of Lebanon is a chilling and essentialaddition to our understanding of the external and internal threatsto America. In disturbing detail, it portrays the degree to whichHezbollah has infiltrated this country and the extent to which itintends to do us harm. Formed in Lebanon by Iranian Revolutionary Guards in 1982,Hezbollah is fueled by hatred of Israel and the United States. Its1983 truck-bomb attack against the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirutkilled 241 soldiers–the largest peacetime loss ever for the U.S.military–and caused President Reagan to withdraw all troops fromLebanon. Since then, among other atrocities, Hezbollah has mu