Your grandparents came of age in the Great Depression, when everyday life was about deprivation and sacrifice, when the economic conditions of the time were so grave and so unrelenting it would have been easy enough for the American dream to fade away. Tom Brokaw ageamericancondition share on social
My mother, who graduated from high school at sixteen, had no hope of affording college, so she went to work in the local post office for a dollar a day. She was doing better than her father, who earned ten cents an hour working at a nearby grain elevator. Tom Brokaw affordcentcollege share on social
I believe you make your own luck. My motto is 'It's always a mistake not to go.' Tom Brokaw luckmakemistake Change image and share on social
I started writing a journal, and I was learning so much along the way. How to deal with your family, how to deal with your friends. Tom Brokaw dealfamilyfriend Change image and share on social
I was unknown because I came to Washington from the West. I started covering Watergate. Immodestly, I'd say I did it pretty well, in part because it was hard to go wrong. Tom Brokaw coverhardimmodestly Change image and share on social
I had always been interested in race and racial justice, but mostly it was with my nose pressed up against the glass, looking at the South from a long way away. Tom Brokaw glassinterestjustice Change image and share on social
The cancer is in remission, and I will shortly go on a drug maintenance regimen to keep it there. Tom Brokaw cancerdrugmaintenance Change image and share on social
I was on the board of the Mayo Clinic. I was diagnosed there, and I could pick up the phone and get a hold of whoever I wanted to. What I learned is that you really have to get proactive and manage your case. Tom Brokaw boardcaseclinic share on social
John F. Kennedy, the man I had thought would define the political ideal for the rest of my days, was suddenly gone in the senseless violence of a single moment. Tom Brokaw daydefineideal Change image and share on social
In retrospect, the political and cultural climate in the early '60s seems both a time of innocence and also like a sultry, still summer day in the Midwest: an unsettling calm before a ferocious storm over Vietnam, which was not yet an American war. Tom Brokaw 60samericancalm share on social