The Search for Osama bin Laden — The Abbottabad Raid (2011) The search for Osama bin Laden—the al-Qaeda leader responsible for the September 11 attacks—reached a dramatic turning point in 2010. After years of following scattered clues, American intelligence officers traced a trusted courier to a walled compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Its residents guarded their privacy, and the property lacked telephone and internet connections. Could the world’s most wanted terrorist be hi

My Name is John Lewis: From an Alabama Farm to the United States Congress My first congregation was a flock of chickens. I was born in 1940 near Troy, Alabama, and one of my chores on our farm was tending the birds. I wanted to be a preacher, so I preached to them. A chicken will listen about as long as it pleases. In town, I had questions I wanted grown people to hear. Why could a white child walk into the public library and borrow a book when a Black child could not? Then I

A Historic Inauguration in a Time of Crisis On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama raised his right hand and placed his left on a Bible held by his wife, Michelle. Chief Justice John Roberts stood before him on the west front of the United States Capitol. Beyond them, people in winter coats crowded the National Mall to witness something no American had seen before. An African American was taking the oath as president of the United States. The Bible had last played such a role near

My Name is Richard Lugar: A Republican’s Life of Service I was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on April 4, 1932. Long before I entered the United States Senate, I learned that responsibility began close to home. I became an Eagle Scout, graduated from Denison University, and studied at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. In 1956, I married Charlene Smeltzer; we would raise four sons. Service in the United States Navy strengthened my appreciation for discipline and national defense. Re

China’s Rise: A Manufacturing and Trading Power China’s rise as a manufacturing and trading power transformed the world between 2001 and 2008. An American shopper picking up a toy, shirt, or electronic device increasingly encountered three familiar words: “Made in China.” Behind that label stood an enormous transformation—workers moving into cities, factories producing goods for distant customers, and cargo ships connecting Chinese ports with American stores. The Door Opens W

My Name is John C. Bogle: Giving Ordinary Investors a Fair Share I was born in Montclair, New Jersey, on May 8, 1929, just months before the stock market crash. The Great Depression damaged my family’s finances and taught me that financial security could disappear. I worked, studied, and eventually attended Princeton University. There, I became fascinated by mutual funds—investments that pooled people’s money to purchase securities. My senior thesis examined the industry and

Before the Crash: The Housing Boom and Easy Credit Before the crash, the housing boom and easy credit made buying a home seem like a road to financial security. During the early 2000s, home prices climbed rapidly in many American communities. Houses could attract competing offers, and buyers worried that waiting would make homeownership unaffordable. Homeowners watched their properties increase in value, sometimes earning more on paper than they earned at work. Yet that growi

My Name is Arlen Specter: A Life of Questions, Independence, and Public Service I was born on February 12, 1930, in Wichita, Kansas, to Jewish immigrant parents. My father worked hard, including operating a small junk business, and our family knew the difficulties of the Great Depression. We later moved to Russell, Kansas. Those years taught me persistence and the importance of opportunity. An argument did not become convincing merely because someone delivered it confidently.

A Second Term Begins: Bush’s Plans for America (2005) On January 20, 2005, George W. Bush stood at the U.S. Capitol and took the presidential oath for a second time. After defeating Senator John Kerry in the 2004 election, Bush entered his new term with Republicans controlling both the House of Representatives and the Senate. He believed voters had given him an opportunity to pursue ambitious changes. Yet winning another four years did not guarantee that Congress—or the publi

My Name is Pervez Musharraf: From Military General to President of Pakistan I was born on August 11, 1943, in Delhi, British India. My childhood was shaped by one of the most significant events in South Asian history: the partition of British India in 1947, which created the independent nations of India and Pakistan. My Muslim family moved to Pakistan, where I grew up with a strong sense of national identity and patriotism. I also spent several years in Turkey, where my fathe