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It is character that often enables individuals to break barriers that hold back progress, be it in sports, entertainment, science, or business. Margaret Chase Smith (1897-1995) was the first woman to serve in both houses of Congress and was a consistent voice of reason. Bill Russell (1934-2022) was the first Black NBA superstar and first Black coach, winning an incredible eleven NBA championships. Julia Child (1912-2004) was the first successful television chef, popularizing serious home cooking for a generation. Barriers broken by these pioneers have led thousands of others to follow in their footsteps, enriching us all.

Courage is a recognizable character trait, but one that occurs all too infrequently. In this chapter we'll look at the lives of British prime minister Winston Churchill (1874-1965) and tennis great Arthur Ashe (1943-1993), who displayed courage his entire life before succumbing to a case of AIDS transmitted by a blood transfusion. Baseball legend Lou Gehrig (1903-1941) embodied courage fighting ALS. Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) and Edith Cavell (1865-1915), British nurses during the Crimean War and World War I respectively, in their own ways transformed the nursing profession despite great peril to themselves and, in Cavell's case, being executed by German troops.

Loyalty is another character trait often notable by its absence. We'll look at Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), who managed to wield enormous influence while supporting her husband's career; John Wooden (1910-2010), who produced many of college basketball's exemplars at UCLA; and John McCain (1936-2018), whose loyalty to his fellow soldiers in Vietnam shaped his entire life.

Integrity seems to flow out of those who possess it. We'll look at Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1927-2003), an academic and politician who once famously remarked that people are "entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts"; Margaret Thatcher, later Baroness Thatcher (1925-2013), the Iron Lady; and Paul Volcker (1927-2019), who guided the United States out of one of its worst recessions and in so doing won the respect of Wall Street and Main Street.

Persons of character generally are open and transparent. We'll look at examples of this trait, among them Katharine Graham (1917-2001), whose stewardship of the Washington Post through Watergate and other storms was a model for how a free press promotes transparency; Jimmy Stewart (1908-1997), an actor who often played persons of character, as in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and flew bombing missions for the U.S. Army and Air Force in World War II; and Theodore Hesburgh (1917—2015), whose integrity and openness as the president of the University of Notre Dame won him a national following.

We'll conclude with the remarkable life of S. P. Hinduja (1935-2023), who was born in the part of India that is now Pakistan and became one of the wealthiest men in the world through his various business enterprises. But it was not his financial success that defined him—it was his character. S. P. exemplified many of the traits we have discussed, such as leadership, loyalty, and integrity, that, combined with other qualities, created transcendence. We will describe what this means in the final chapter.

Many of these people remain well known, some were once well known but have been passed over by history, and others were never really recognized for their accomplishments. It doesn't matter. Character is not something that exists only if recognized. But it is important—vital, really—that we learn from the lives and stories of others. Yes, as the philosopher George Santayana may have said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," but also, those who don't learn by example or have ideals and heroes are condemned to live less than fully successful lives.

Through these thirty-one portraits we'll show what character is (and what it isn't) and how having enough of at least one of these traits can determine success and make a person worthy of emulation. Many of these people display several of these traits. Striving toward imbuing these traits into your life and personality will help you become a better person and help our society heal.