Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight D. Eisenhower was one of the greatest men in American history. A true American man who was a real leader at heart, led our great nation to many victories as well as two terms as President. Eisenhower knew that the only way to truly lead, was to first serve. As General commander of the American forces, he showed that his service was widely apparent and this led to his pure leadership. Dwight D. Eisenhower was one of America's greatest leaders.
David Dwight Eisenhower was born on October 14, 1890, in Texas. "He was the third of seven sons born to David Jacob Eisenhower and Ida Elizabeth Stover, of German, English and Swiss ancestry." Dwight was raised under Presbyterian church leadership by his parents. They are described as strict but fair. He attended Abilene High School in Abilene, Kansas, and attended the Naval Academy. Before entering, however, Dwight worked for two years as a night foreman at the Belle Springs Creamery. This he did to support his brother Edgar's education wishes. After these two years, Eisenhower wanted to join the Naval Academy. He passed the entrance exam with flying colors, but was beyond the age eligibility to enter the academy. With great disappointment, Dwight then decided that he would try his luck at the military academy at West Point. He was accepted and graduated at the upper echelon of his class. He graduated in 1915, in, "the class the stars fell on." It was given this name because 59 of the classmates became general officers later in life. As an addition to all of this, Dwight also had an astounding athletic career. As a baseball player, golfer, boxer, and a football player, he was an obvious star. He played football as a running back and linebacker at West Point. He also plyed golf at the prestigioous Augusta National golf club in his later years.
Eisenhower's military career is also quite impressive. his early career he never saw combat. But soon he began to talk with General George S. Patton and became interested in tank warfare. This is what finally led him to the battlefield. His normal rank was the Captain position but he eventually rose to a major. He then served as betallion commander from 1924 until 1927. in 1936, he was promoted to permanent lieutenant colonel after 16 years as a major. He also learned to fly, but was never used as a pilot. Later, Eisenhower joined the forces to assist in World War II. In 1944, he was appointed General of the army. "In this and the previous high commands he held, Eisenhower showed his great talents for leadership and diplomacy. Although he had never seen action himself, he won the respect of front-line commanders. He dealt skillfully with difficult subordinates such as Patton, and allies such as Winston Churchill, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and General Charles de Gaulle. He had fundamental disagreements with Churchill and Montgomery over questions of strategy, but these rarely upset his relationships with them. He negotiated with Soviet Marshal Zhukov, and such was the confidence that President Franklin D. Roosevelt had in him, he sometimes worked directly with Stalin, much to the chagrin of the British High Command who disliked being bypassed." This man showed his great ability to be led and thus take the lead over and over again in this war, and he was rewared accordingly. His story is a model that serves to support the concept that hard work and discipline truly does pay off.
In November of 1945, Dwight returned to take over as Chief of Staff. His main job was to demobilize millions of soldiers an find them jobs, which would turn out to be a very slow process. Later, he introduced the "Eisenhower Doctrine." "In relation to the Middle East, the U.S. would be "prepared to use armed force...[to counter] aggression from any country controlled by international communism." The Eisenhower Doctrine of 1957 declared that the United States would distribute economic and military aid and, if necessary, use military force to stop the spread of communism in the Middle East." This doctrine played out in the United States sending aid to the Kingdom of Jordan to supress a upheaval that had risen up. These kinds of things were at the heart of the Eisenhower Doctrine.
Finally, Eisenhower's most important trait that led to him being the incredible leader that he was. His desire and discipline to serve and compete with his fellow soldiers are what allowed them to trust him in times of despair. His leaderhsip led them out of trouble and this only occured because they were comfortanle to trust him because of his leadership. "Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based on the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone." Those last words are the heart of this great man. Responsibility, discipline, and hard work.

The Watergate Scandal

Abraham Kuyper and Calvinism

Abraham Kuyper
Abraham Kuyper was born on October 29, 1837 and died on November 8, 1920. His life was full of proclamation and defense of his views and faith. This man truly fulfilled the defense of the Christian faith as Christ desired it. With all this in mind, I will now go into the study of this great man, Abraham Kuyper.
Kuyper was born to Jan Frederik Kuyper and Johanna Kuyper. He was home schooled from a very early age and excelled greatly in all academics. His teacher was his father, who was the minister for the Dutch Reformed Church in Hoogmade. He had no true formal education but had a secondary education later in his life. This is what is so amazing about Kuyper. “In 1862 he was promoted to doctor in Theology on basis of a dissertation called "Disquisitio historico-theologica, exhibens Johannis Calvini et Johannis à Lasco de Ecclesia Sententiarum inter se compositionem" (Theological-historical dissertation showing the differences in the rules of the church, between John Calvin and John Łaski).” (Wikipedia) Abraham quickly became a doctor in theology which was his greatest love of study. His deepest desire was to delve into the Scriptures and the books of his hero John Calvin and compare and contrast them with gentleness and respect.
Kuyper was a Dutch Calvinist who was extremely passionate about that title. He studied the ideas and methods of the great John Calvin with intelligible intensity. However, he also studied the theology of John Laski. His favor leaned toward Laski in the early days of his study. This was because the ideas of Laski were not as controversial as those of John Calvin. With these studies in full form, Kuyper began to realize God changing him day by day. He always had showed favor to the theology of John Laski and now he was beginning to realize that God had different plans for his beliefs and evangelism. He began to see the deep truth of Calvin’s Five Points and the totality of his theology and views toward evangelism.
Kuyper’s study of Calvinism set him on fire for evangelism. He began to lecture as the minister of the Dutch Reformed Church. Many of his lectures were on the topic of Calvinism which stirred up many debates and arguments in his native Holland. He, however, was greatly versed in the issues and was often able to solve debates and arguments with his own knowledge and study. Abraham Kuyper is most famous for, “The Stone Lectures,” which were 6 lectures preached by Kuyper on the topic of Calvinism. These lectures were sparked by Kuyper’s study of Calvinism and his fondness of it. He began to see the truth of this issue and thought that it had such great importance that he needed to preach on the topic so that his congregation would know the truth. The first lecture was, “Calvinism As A Life System.” Kuyper preached this sermon first because he thought this was the basis of Calvinism, that it should be lived out as a life system. This quote by Kuyper is a part of his first great sermon. “From the first, therefore, I have always said to myself,–If the battle is to be fought with honor and with a hope of victory, then principle must be arrayed against principle; then it must be felt that in Modernism the vast energy of an all-embracing life-system assails us, then also it must be understood that we have to take our stand in a life-system of equally comprehensive and far-reaching power. And this powerful life-system is not to be invented nor formulated by ourselves, but is to be taken and applied as it presents itself in history. When thus taken, I found and confessed, and I still hold, that this manifestation of the Christian principle is given us in Calvinism. In Calvinism my heart has found rest. From Calvinism have I drawn the inspiration firmly and resolutely to take my stand in the thick of this great conflict of principles. And therefore, when I was invited most honorably by your Faculty to give the Stone-Lectures here this year, I could not hesitate a moment as to my choice of subject. Calvinism, as the only decisive, lawful, and consistent defence for Protestant nations against encroaching. and overwhelming Modernism,–this of itself was bound to be my theme.” (Kuyper) This is the heart of Abraham Kuyper. Calvinism is the life system that the Bible details. Principles have great power, and Calvinism has the greatest power of all principles. The greatest protection against Modernism is the life system of Calvinism.
Kuyper speaks of Calvinism as the life system of the Christian principle, and as the place his heart found rest. This place is also known as Scripture. Calvinism is well spoke out in Scripture and is the reason why many great theologians have found it to be the only life system that Scripture truly implies and supports. John Calvin’s only goal and desire, was to study the sacred Scripture, interpret it correctly, and speak this interpretation to all other people. With this goal accomplished came Calvinism. And with Calvinism. Abraham Kuyper found rest and began to preach and influence the lives of many great theologians.

Panama Canal

The building of the Panama Canal was one of the most controversial works that has ever occurred in history. Its constructing was a work of enormous proportions and hard work. This made it the work that it was, being that many did not want it and its construction was immensely difficult. however, it was built, with perseverance and endurance.
The Panama Canal is a ship canal that allowed ships to travel between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. This route, previously, had taken several days to make this type of trip. This canal allowed ships to travel in a faster route and a less dangerous route to travel between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. This canal also allowed for the route from South America across the ocean to be much shorter. Because of this trading became simpler, and travel became swifter.
The building of the Panama Canal was not only controversial, but the work that it required was extremely strenuous. This canal was incredibly long and deep, therefore, it took tough workers and true leadership. The most well known builder of the Panama Canal was President Theodore Roosevelt . Roosevelt helped lead the building of the Panama Canal by taking a swift role of leadership by pulling the pieces together and making things work out in this architectural work.
Along with the building of the Panama Canal , there were also health and death issues that came along with the construction. At this point in history, hygiene is still a large issue. Disease can spread quite quickly when men and women are packed in tight together, such as in a building of the Canal. Among the entire time while building the Panama Canal, there were 27,500 deaths that occurred in construction. Diseases, such as malaria, spread quickly through the men who were building this masterpiece. Many also died from this malaria, which added to the death toll. However, there must always be sacrifice when we desire reward.
Finally, this canal was built to simplify and make more useful, the traveling of ships and the safety and speed of trade. This goal was accomplished and at a high level as Theodore Roosevelt took complete charge and made it so that this building would not fail.. This is the type of leadership that needs to be taken in our own world today. The leadership that was demonstrated in the building of the panama Canal was absolutely extraordinary.
Haskin, Frederic Jennings. The Panama Canal. Doubleday. 1914. Harvard University.
Bennett, Ira Elbert. History of the Panama Canal: its building and construction. Historical Publishing Company. 1915. Michigan.

Trans-Continental Railroad

The Trans-Continental Railroad was one of the most famous and spectacular creations of our country's past history. Congress came together and tried to to discover a strategy for building some sort of transportation that could be used in a transcontinental fashion for the country. They eventually passed an efficient trans-continental plan known as the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862, shortly following the beiginning of the Civil War, and happily signed by President Abraham Lincoln. I will attempt to explain the monumental importance of this major construction of the Transcontinental Railroad.
There were truly only four men, known as the "Big Four" who really brought this incredible idea together. These men were Leland Stanford, Collis Huntington, Charles Crocker and Mark Hopkins. These men were also all merchants. It was soon recognized by those who saw the great dedication of these men to the construction of this railroad. They used most of their own money to fund this creation, and themselves worked on it. Without these four brave men, this railroad would have never been built.
California, before the building of the railroad, sat apart of the rest of the country. There was no real way for anyone to be transported there without the railroad. This shows that this building was absolutely monumental to the linking of California to the rest of the country.
The linking of these numerous states did not just help transportation but also economy. With people not having to pay as high for the various needs of transportation, the value of the dollar went up again. This railroad was a enormous aid to the economy as well as the transportation. "By linking with the existing railway network of the Eastern United States, the road thus connected the Atlantic and Pacific coasts by rail for the first time. Opened for through traffic on May 10, 1869, with the driving of the "Last Spike" at Promontory Summit, Utah, the road established a mechanized transcontinental transportation network that revolutionized the population and economy of the American West."
Finally, the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad was a great achievement. These men and the many that supported them demonstrated bravery and dedication to this work which is what made it successful. Without this railroad, not only would there be no link for the states, but the way we see the rest of the country would be utterly different.
Blashfield, Jean F. Transcontinental Railroad, The. Compass Point Books. 2001. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Houghton, Gillian. Transcontinental Railroad: A Primary Source History of America's First Coast-To-Coast Railroad, The. The Rosen Publishing Group. 2003. New York.

Paris and London

Paris and London are two of the greatest cities in the world, and have been for centuries. Paris, the permanent capital of France, has a long history of movement and defeat but survived and is now one of the premier cities in Europe. London, the capital of England, also has a history of movement and is one of the most beautiful, inhabitated cities in Europe. These two magnificent cities hold great splendor and great history.
Paris was first given the name in 360. one of its first attacks was by Attila the Hun who tried to enter in 451 but was stopped by the Prayer of Genevieve. The first main conqueror of Paris was King Clovis 1 who succeeded in capturing the great city in 508, making it his capital. Clovis also built two glorious sculptures of the Apostles Peter, and Paul after his conversion to Christianity. He was the first great ruler of Paris.
The second astonishing ruler was Charlemagne, ruler of the Carolignian Empire. His conquest of Paris began in 768. He built many churches and monestaries making Paris a great religious city within his empire. Paris reached its high point of growth in the 8th century under Charlemagne. This short reign of Paris was still magnificent considering the growth in such a short time frame.
London also had two great eventful rulers in its history. The first, was Queen Boudicca of the Iceni Tribe. She sacked the city in an attempt to revolt against the Roman Empire. The Emperor Paulinus, tried desperately to save his beloved city but the size of Boudicca's army was simply too large to fight against. He retreated and the city was taken over by the Iceni Tribe.
The next powerful ling of Paris was the great Christian Emperor Diocletian. he again reorganized Britain to become a universal Christian capital of his Empire. London still was known as the financial center of Britain, but it was now a Christian city. He is also known for keeping a watchful eye on his troops and spreading his empire to create a massive rule.
These two astounding cities will be known for many years to come. They are both incredibly beautiful and attract thousands of tourists a year. Being one of the tourist capitals of Europe, these cities are often used but still retain their luster as they hopefully will forever.
Wilson, A.N. London. Modern Library. 2004. New York.
Druon, Maurice. The History of Paris From Caesar to St. Louis. Hart-Davis. 1969. Michigan