Granted That

The sensations of the new cadet when he reaches the Plain linger a long while. There are two West Points, — the actual West Point, and the overarching spiritual one, of which the cadet only becomes conscious about the time when he graduates. The determinate West Point that is to be his master for four years and the shaper of his destiny meets him at the top of the slope with ominous silence. He hears no voice, he sees no portentous figure; but there is communicated in some way, through some medium, the presence of an invisible authority, cold, inexorable, and relentless. Time never wears away this first feeling; it comes back to every graduate on returning to West Point, let his years and his honors be what they may. ”

By the time a decision gets to the president, there are no good options. If there was a good option, somebody at a lower level would have made the decision and taken credit for it. By the time a decision gets to the president or secretary of Defense, more often than not, you’ve having to choose the least bad option. ”

We’re a small school—but with the resources and facilities of a full research university! ”