william+j.+bennett

Co-Director of Empower America and former Secretary of Education 3rd States Secretary of Education 1st Director of the National Drug Control Policy 5th Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities **Biography** 1943- Born in Brooklyn, New York During his elementary years, he first attended a public school then transferred to Jesuit-run Holy Cross Boy’s school. He graduated from Gonzaga High School which was another Catholic institution. During the elementary years his mother brought up him but he was also interested in male American heroes like actors or president. He thought that heroes were important with adult encouragement for a child’s moral development. 1965 He graduated from Williams College. 1970 He studied philosophy at the University of Texas, and earned his PhD. 1971 He earned his law degree at Harvard University in. 1971-1976 He worked at Boston University as an administrative and several teaching posts. 1976 He worked as an executive director in national Humanities Center. 1979 He was a coauthor with the journalist Terry Eastland for Counting by Race: Equality from the founding Fathers to Bakke and Weber. 1980 He worked on the Heritage Fund’s Mandate for leadership. 1981 He became head of National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). 1984 He was appointed the office of secretary of the Department of Education by Ronald Reagan. 1988 He resigned from the Department of Education for joining a Washington law firm. 1989 He was appointed head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy by President George Bush (1924- ) 1990 He resigned from the Office of National Drug Control Policy to spend his time for public speaking and journalism. 1993 He published //The Book of Virtues//, a collection of stories, poems, and fables for teaching values to children. 1994 He was mentioned as a possible presidential candidate by Republican Party but he did not pursue. 1995 He published The //Moral Compass: Stories for a Life’s journey.// 1987 He published //First lessons:// A //Report on Elementary Education// which shows us Bennett’s beliefs on Elementary Education. He focused three C’s in education which are content, character, and choice. 1998 The fist “Silver Sewer” Award to Seagram, Inc. which its involvement in the production of offensive television shows and music, was presented by him and Senator Joseph Lieberman. He published Why We Fight: Moral Clarity and The War on Terrorism.
 * William Jo **** hn Bennett (1943/ - ) **

**Research Interests and Projects** William J. Bennett is a well- known perennialist­­­.
 * William J. Bennett has many effects on America in cultural, political and educational issues. He is the fellow of the Claremont Institute in Washington and a contributor of CNN. Additionally, he is the chairman of [[image:6.png width="219" height="269" align="right" caption="Bennett in San Antonio" link="@http://www.billbennett.com/photos/view/bill_bennett_in_san_antonio/2407/may_12,_2009_-_minneapolis/7bba97f9-6c8f-4ef2-9750-9565dd8ccffa/"]]Americans for Victory over Terrorism which is a project that maintain and empower public opinion about conservative ideas.
 * He has a big impact about national political debates and he has written and edited 16 books. Over 65 countries have the Book of Virtues which is one of the most successful books in the past decade. He was named as “Best Communicator of 2002” and he was selected the most well-received public commentator in such subjects which are faith, morality, pride and patriotism by focus groups.
 * William J. Bennett was named “leading spokesman of the Traditional Values wing of the Republican Party” by the Sunday New York Times in 2005. With former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, Dr. Bennett is working as co- chairman of the Partnership for a Drug- Free America.
 * He is working as chairman of K12 which is an Internet- based school in education.
 * He continues to write for National Review Online, National Review and Commentary.
 * He is an advisor and investor of internet monitoring service which is called "//mousemail// ".

William J. Bennett has a national radio show from 6:00- 9:00 a.m. (EST) which is called Bill Bennett’s Morning in America.

**Educational Viewpoints** William J. Bennett has conservative ideas about curriculum and religion in education. He is one the proponents of classical education which comes from Western Culture. He denounced the low standards of schools and the criticized Chicago public school system by saying “//the worst in the// //nation.”// He has some aspects to reform the education: Unfortunately, much of the education establishment, which includes the unions and other “professional” educational organizations, opposes every common- sense reform measure: competency testing for teachers, opening the teaching profession to knowledgeable individuals who have not graduated from “schools of education,” performance-based pay, holding educators accountable for how much children learn, an end to tenure, a national examination to find out exactly how much children know, and parental choice of schools. These are reforms most Americans endorse and are all initiatives that I endorsed or proposed legislatively while I was Secretary of Education (Bennett, pg 44).

He continues to enhance and improve education. Also, he advocates the Internet based school.

**Books** 365 reasons to love America! The American Patriot's Almanac: Daily Readings on America America: The Last Best Hope (Volume II): From a World at War to the Triumph of Freedom America: The Last Best Hope Volume I The Children's Treasury of Virtues The De-Valuing Of America A Century Turns The Book of Virtues for Boys and Girls: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories The War against Excellence: The Rising Tide of Mediocrity in America's Middle Schools 10 Absolute Life-Changers of Men; Guaranteed: From The Book Which Cannot Lie A Guide To The Holy Eucharist V1 The Eucharist Its History, Doctrine, and Practice, with Meditations and Prayers The Index of Leading Cultural Indicators American Society at the End of the 20th Century ((Revised and Expanded Edition))

** Videos of William J. Bennett **

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**Useful Links about William J. Bennett** [|http://www.billbennett.com/] [|https://www.claremont.org/scholars/scholarid.37/scholar.asp] [|http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1124.html] [|http://www.k12.com/] [|http://www.mousemail.com/] []

**References** Bennett, William J. (1992). //The De- Valuing of America: the fight for our culture and our children//. New York, Touchstone. Bennett, William J. Retrieved from http://www.billbennett.com/pages/bio/ Bennett, William J. Retrieved from http://www.mousemail.com/about/senior-advisors/ Bennett, William J. (2011). In the Electronic Encyclopedia of World Biography. Retrieved from http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ba-Be/Bennett-William.html Bennett, William J. The Claremont Institute. Retrieved from https://www.claremont.org/scholars/scholarid.37/scholar.asp Hlebowitsh, P. S. (2005). //Designing the school curriculum//. Boston, MA: Pearson. Rury, John L. (2005). Schools and Education. In The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. Retrieved from http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1124.html