REAL CLEAR POLITICS
The Unconfined Life of Charles Krauthammer
by A.B. Stoddard
June 15, 2018

…Charles, like all heroes, leads us by his example. In Bret Baier’s extraordinary 2013 Fox News special on Krauthammer, “A Life That Matters,” Charles’ describes his diving accident, and his refusal to dwell on it. His staggering resolve led him to finish medical school on time, while recovering in the hospital, with his lessons projected on the ceiling above. Putting off his studies would have been “fatal,” Charles told Bret. Years later Charles would begin driving again, while sitting in a wheelchair. READ MORE

MERCURY NEWS Marc Thiessen: Unusual place Charles Krauthammer wants to die…Charles delivered an enthralling lecture, which, to this day, is the best expression I have ever heard of America’s role in the world. He dismissed the idea of American empire, declaring, “It is absurd to apply the word to a people whose first instinct upon arriving on anyone’s soil is to demand an exit strategy.” Unlike Rome or Britain or other classical empires, he said, Americans do not hunger for territory. “We like it here. We like our McDonald’s. We like our football. We like our rock-and-roll. We’ve got the Grand Canyon and Graceland. … We’ve got everything

NEW YORK TIMES Bret Stephens: Charles Krauthammer’s Democratic Vocation…Beliefs firmly held in his mind seemed to mingle with bemusement tickling his gut. If the great theme of his work is the defense of what we proudly used to call Western civilization, the great theme of his life is the cultivation of a civilized mind. With every commentary, he taught us how such a mind worked. Charles’s parting letter is, appropriately, about gratitude. “I am grateful,” he writes, “to have played a small role in the conversations that have helped guide this extraordinary nation’s destiny.”

NATIONAL REVIEW Charles Krauthammer in 1998, on Israel’s 50th anniversary: At Last, Zion …It is my contention that on Israel — on its existence and survival — hangs the very existence and survival of the Jewish people. Or, to put the thesis in the negative, that the end of Israel means the end of the Jewish people.