General James Mattis (USMC-RET)

This book review was originally published in the August 2026 issue of The u.s. naval institute’s Proceedings

When Senator John F. Kennedy published Profiles in Courage in 1956, a reviewer described the book as a “thoughtful and readable study of political bravery.”

Other reviewers praised the book’s central argument that democratic government depends on leaders willing to risk popularity for principle. One said the book was “an unusually mature examination of conscience in politics.”

Seventy years later, another book explores these same themes and warrants the same attention and praise: Courage Can Save US.

Rye Barcott has written a thoughtful and timely book about courage, a quality that once was far more prevalent in public life. Too many public officials today seem mediocre and highly interchangeable modular parts—more tinsel than tree.

The men and women profiled in these pages—five Republicans and five Democrats—come from different backgrounds and different corners of the United States. They have carried the burdens of command, confronted danger on behalf of others, and entered public life understanding that leadership is about duty, not personal gain or comfort.

Barcott understands that courage is not loud. More often, it reveals itself quietly—in restraint rather than impulse, in integrity rather than ambition, and in the willingness to accept political risk for the good of the country. Having served in war, these 10 leaders recognize trust, discipline, and shared sacrifice are the foundations on which serious institutions—and serious nations—are built.

The book does not romanticize politics, nor does it pretend public servants are without flaws. That honesty strengthens its message. Democracy depends not on perfect people, but on citizens and leaders willing to place service above self-interest when circumstances demand it.

The United States desperately needs leaders who inspire rather than ones who create fear and division. Too often today, U.S. leaders from both ends of the political spectrum whip up their supporters to make them afraid of threats that may or may not exist. And even when those supporters realize that the “real enemies” do not exist, they often will accept any substitute.

In 1838, 188 years ago, Abraham Lincoln warned that the greatest threat to our experiment in democracy was not foreign aggression that could kill, but corrosion from within. Lincoln said in his address at the Young Men’s Lyceum in Springfield, Illinois:

“All the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa combined with all the treasures of the earth in their military chest, could not by force take a drink from the Ohio River or make a track over the Blue Ridge Mountains. If destruction is to be our fate, we ourselves will be its author.”

Or, as Rye Barcott says, “The only thing that can kill America is America.”

The United States has always renewed itself through individuals prepared to shoulder responsibility during difficult times. Courage Can Save US ultimately is a hopeful book because it reminds readers that such Americans still exist—and the future of the republic will depend on whether we choose to follow their example.

General Mattis is a fellow at the Hoover Institution and coauthor of Call Sign Chaos (Random House, 2019). He served as the 26th U.S. Secretary of Defense and commanded at multiple levels during his 43-year career as an infantry Marine.