Smith Morrill: Almost every land-grant college or university in the United States has a building named for him; but are his contributions truly recognized and understood? Here is the first biography on this renowned statesman in six decades. Representative and then senator from Vermont, Morrill began his tenure in Congress in 1855 and served continuously for forty-three years. His thirty- one years in the upper chamber alone earned him the title "Father of the Senate." Coy F. Cross reveals a complex and influential political figure who, as chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, and then the Senate Finance Committee, influenced American economic policy for nearly fifty years. Morrill's most-recognized achievements are the pieces of legislation that bear his name: the Morrill land-grant college acts of 1862 and 1890. His legacy, inspired by the Jeffersonian ideal of an educated electorate, revolutionized American higher education. Prior to this legislation, colleges and universities were open primarily to affluent white men and studies were limited largely to medicine, theology, and philosophy. Morrill's land-grant acts eventually opened American higher education to the working class, women, minorities, and immigrants. Since 1862, more than 20 million people have graduated from the 104 land-grant colleges and universities spawned by his grand vision. In this long-overdue study, Cross shows the "Father of Land-Grant Colleges" to be one of America's formative nineteenth- century political figures.

"Improving business processes, whatever or wherever they are in the enterprise, is an acknowledged way of improving the bottom line. Whether it's re-engineering, Six Sigma, TQM, or any number of other techniques, the problem is that it's usually such a huge undertaking that it's more work than it's worth. Kelvin F. Cross proposes that results can be achieved much more easily by going in and performing ""surgical strikes"" on specific areas that need improvement, without turning the entire thing into a ""science project."" And now his method is available for anyone seeking to streamline process structures. Using case studies from companies including AT&T, GE, and Weight Watchers International to illustrate the remarkable results that can be achieved, Quick Hits sums up the ten key areas that are perfect targets for surgical strikes, demonstrating exactly how to handle each type of problem. By showing how to determine which approach to use for any given situation, the book gives readers an arsenal of tactical and judicious methods designed to be low risk, low cost, and very effective."

This behind-the-scenes look at Franklin D. Roosevelt’s extraordinary skill as a blue-water sailor explores how FDR’s love of the sea shaped his approach to public service and even influenced the course of events in World War II. Family and friends, Secret Service agents, and others reveal never-before-told stories of their days afloat with America’s greatest seafaring president, including how he escaped injury when fire broke out aboard his small schooner, how ships were modified to accommodate his disability, and details of his wartime ocean rendezvous with Winston Churchill. Sailing pals discuss his abilities as a skipper along with his enjoyment of an evening cocktail at sea during the days of Prohibition. Letters and other documents illustrate how the sea was never far from Roosevelt’s thoughts. Robert Cross examines Roosevelt’s great affection for the sea in the context of an era dominated by the Great Depression and two world wars. While some criticized Roosevelt for taking too many seagoing trips—he lagged hundreds of thousands of miles at sea and was sometimes out of touch with the White House and the Secret Service for hours—FDR was quick to explain that his lengthy voyages allowed him to personally assess the world situation instead of relying solely upon White House briefing books. The author argues that the skills required to be a good sailor have much in common with those needed to be a successful politician: the ability to alter courses, make compromises, and shift positions as the situation warrants. Cross describes FDR as a master at dealing with the unexpected, allowing him to excel in the Navy Department, the governor’s mansion, and the White House, as well as the open sea. From luxury ocean liners and presidential yachts to submarines and kayaks, this book lists all of the vessels on which FDR sailed and includes some never-before-published photographs.

In his newest book, The Dhance: A Caregiver’s Search for Meaning, Coy F. Cross speaks and writes about his journey into transformation as he learns how God is “also in the worst of our life’s experiences”. For more than 20 years he planned to write a book highlighting his friend Reverend Carol Ruth Knox’s spiritual teaching. She opened his eyes to concepts he had never before considered. In 2009 his wife, also named Carol, was diagnosed with cancer and now Coy needed all of Rev. Knox’s lessons to help him deal with this crisis and also be present and available to his wife in a meaningful way while he was in the ‘trenches with the disease’. This excruciating time was ‘my graduate course on deepening my relationship with the Divine. It wasn’t the path I had expected or wanted, but through the journey, I transformed.’ This book is a record and teachings based on his journey, his transformation.

This compelling tale of courage, heroism, and terror is told in the words of ninety-one sailors and officers interviewed by the author about their World War II service aboard fifty-six destroyer escorts. They reveal many never-before-told details of life at sea during wartime and, along with information found in secretly kept war diaries and previously unpublished personal photographs, add important dimensions to the official record. Unseasoned teenage recruits when they first went to sea, these sailors were led by inexperienced college boys more accustomed to yachts than warships. Their ships were untested vessels, designed by a man with no formal training in ship design, and which many viewed as a waste of money. Yet, as Cross points out, these men are credited with helping turn the tide of the war in the Atlantic as they singlehandedly sank some seventy U-boats and captured U-505, the only German submarine taken during the war and the first enemy vessel captured by Americans at sea since the War of 1812. In the Pacific, the destroyer escorts fought in every major battle, side-by-side with Allied battleships and destroyers. But this story is not just about battles. It is also about American genius, hard work, honor and growing up in the Great Depression. The author provides eyewitness details about the historic first step taken to end racial discrimination in the military as African-Americans stepped aboard the destroyer escort USS Mason as full-fledged sailors for the first time and earned a Navy commendation of heroism in the Battle of the Atlantic presented to the surviving crewmen fifty-one years later. Readers also learn about an ingenious invention when a sailor breaks his silence about a secret weapon tested aboard his destroyer escort that rendered a new German radio-controlled glide bomb useless.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Examines Horace Greeley's role in promoting westward expansion to solve problems such as urban unemployment. Focuses on his efforts to promote agriculture and establish land-grant colleges, pass land reform and homestead acts, restrict slavery from western territories, build transcontinental railroads, and establish the utopian Union Colony that later became Greeley, Colorado.