King Henry VIII Resources

There are some excellent resources on King Henry VIII associated with the 500th anniversary of his ascent to the throne:

Henry VIII: 500th Anniversary of Henry VIII's Accession to the Throne
Henry VIII: A 500th Anniversary Exhibition
Henry VIII: Man and Monarch

A New Agenda for Boards of Directors

"Directors need to restore trust and reset their goals, says Ira M. Millstein, associate dean for corporate governance at the Yale School of Management."

CEOs Without College Degrees

"The thousands of wait-listed would-be MBAs who may not get the chance to go to their dream B-school might want to draw inspiration from the following group of CEOs. Not only did they not get graduate degrees, they didn't get undergraduate degrees—and some never even attended college."

The Magic Potion Of Hard Power Mixed With Soft Emotion

". . .The president refused all offers to let him cut the line. When he got his burger, he sat down to lunch with his vice president at a vinyl-tableclothed table near a sign requesting customers not to take a table before getting their food. Here is the man who occupies the most powerful position in the world, queuing up at a burger stand. It puts me in mind of another presidential image that resonated with the nation almost half a century ago--the image of John F. Kennedy sitting at his desk in the Oval Office as his 3-year-old son peeks out from underneath. Both scenes gave us a glimpse of immense power tempered by shades of human softness."

GM's Long Road to Bankruptcy

"GM stood atop the Fortune 500 nine years ago; it now stands on the brink of bankruptcy court as sales decline and cash becomes scarce. Moreover, GM bondholders are intensely unhappy with the terms they were offered as part of a plan to avoid bankruptcy, so even though the United Auto Workers struck a deal with management on Thursday, bankruptcy still looms as the probable course. How did such a once great company become so desperate? Perhaps the better question is, how did GM's well-paid management fritter away a treasure chest of brand loyalty and corporate wealth? There's not a single bad decision or one misguided executive that we can point to and say, 'but for that GM would still rein supreme.' GM's is a long-term management failure with a litany of losing moves over the decades, from the Chevy Corvair to the acquisition of Hummer — a rolling insult to the environment — that have collectively destroyed GM's balance sheet and sent its customers wandering."

New Justice Could Hold the Key to Presidential Power

"As President Obama prepares to replace Justice David H. Souter on the Supreme Court, conventional wisdom says his nominee will have little chance to change the court because all the contenders appear to share Justice Souter’s approach on social issues, like abortion rights. The latest on President Obama, the new administration and other news from Washington and around the nation. But the effect on presidential power could be pivotal. Important rulings on executive authority — striking down military Commissions and upholding habeas corpus rights for Guantánamo detainees — have been decided by a five-vote majority, including Justice Souter, on the nine-member court. . ."

Beneath a British Scandal, Deeper Furies

"To speak of a “political revolution” in Britain would seem chimerical were it not for the number of times the possibility has been raised these days, in precisely those terms, by politicians and the London-based commentariat. Suddenly, the talk is of a political system grown petrified, and in urgent need of a root-and-branch overhaul that restores the accountability of politicians — and of the government — to the people."