Read ‘Endurance’ by Alfred Lansing, an amazing account of Ernest Shackleton’s quest to cross Antarctica. The personalities and strength of those men is incredible, you would never find that type of person living in modern times.

“Yeah, I was the world-record-holder for the 500 meter freestyle… for 5 minutes anyway…”

Flipper was born into slavery in Thomasville, Georgia on March 21, 1856, the eldest of five brothers. His mother was a slave of the Reverend Reuben H. Lucky, a Methodist minister, and his father, Festus Flipper, a shoemaker and carriage-trimmer, was slave of Ephraim G. Ponder, a wealthy slave dealer.

Flipper attended Atlanta University when Reconstruction began. There, as a freshman, Representative J.C. Freeman appointed him to attend West Point, where there were already four other black cadets. The small group had a difficult time at the academy, where they were rejected by the white students. Nevertheless, Flipper persevered and in 1877 became the first of the group to graduate, becoming a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army cavalry (and the first black commissioned officer in the United States). He was assigned to the 10th Cavalry Regiment[citation needed], one of the four all-black Buffalo Soldier regiments in the army, and became the first black officer to command troops in the U.S. Army (previously, even all-black regiments were led by white officers).

His concerns about the mischief of faction in Federalist paper 10 are main concerns of current U.S. politics but mischief is on the rise. To cure mischief of faction Madison says that the check and balance system outlined in the Constitution should prevent any of these mischiefs. But over time the power of each government branch has increased dramatically to the point that the check and balance system is not working properly. Congress can’t even get people of the executive branch to testify after being subpoenaed.

A current person living, at age 79, that I believe is not remembered as often as he should be is Mr. Elie Wiesel. He authored several books, most notably “Night” and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. After surviving Auschwitz during the Holocaust he wrote about his experiences and has protested war ever since. He protests any international crisis that illustrates human suffering.

A brief quote from his 1986 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech:

“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest. The Talmud tells us that by saving a single human being, man can save the world. We may be powerless to open all the jails and free all the prisoners, but by declaring our solidarity with one prisoner, we indict all jailers. None of us is in a position to eliminate war, but it is our obligation to denounce it and expose it in all its hideousness. War leaves no victors, only victims. I began with the story of the Besht. And, like the Besht, mankind needs to remember more than ever. Mankind needs peace more than ever, for our entire planet, threatened by nuclear war, is in danger of total destruction. A destruction only man can provoke, only man can prevent. Mankind must remember that peace is not God’s gift to his creatures, it is our gift to each other.”

He helped shape the fate of the United States in the first half of the 19th century. He was elected five times to the Speaker of the House, and made it the second most politically powerful position in the federal government, second only to the president. He brought Congressional approval for the Missouri Compromise and settled the Nullification Crisis, helping to keep the country unified in the early 1800s. His last effort to keep feuding sides peaceful was his involvement in the Compromise of 1850, staving off the American Civil War for over a decade.

This “Great Compromiser” ran for President five times, but never was able to win because of his strong anti-slavery and pro-American System economics policies.

Sure, he’s discussed in high school American History classes, but because he refused to sell out his beliefs he will always be lesser know than Zachery Taylor, or Martin Van Buren.