Jeffrey Engel

Every generation faces crises. Yet only three times in our nation’s history has the republic’s very existence been in doubt. George Washington left his well-earned retirement to provide a symbol of stability and virtue the new nation would not have formed without. Abraham Lincoln oversaw a country rent in two. Franklin D. Roosevelt governed during an economic crisis so great many wondered if democracy itself could survive. Today our politically-riven nation may well face only the fourth existential crisis in its long history, and only the lessons of the past can help navigate the rocky shoals ahead.