John Antal is dedicated to inspiring Americans to be leaders who stand for liberty and fight for our freedom — because he believes we’re always in jeopardy of losing it.

The retired U.S. Army colonel visited Heritage last week to discuss his newest book, “7 Leadership Lessons of the American Revolution.”

According to Antal, “Leadership is a sacred trust and the art of influence. It is the ability to motivate, inspire, and impel people to accomplish a mission.”

In his book, Antal unpacks defining moments of leadership during the American Revolution.

“This book is about leadership in the American Revolution because I wanted to go back to our roots,” Antal said. He writes how men like George Washington, Henry Knox, and Sam Adams stood for liberty and led without ever giving up.

Adams was among the first and strongest contenders for freedom. Knox’ courageous leadership enabled the writing of the Declaration of Independence. When Washington, who had written “victory or death,” crossed the Delaware River in December 1776 with his frozen and nearly shoeless army to defeat the British, he was being “unreasonable for liberty.”

Antal is author of a dozen books on military and leadership subjects. After serving 30 years in the military, he now directs leadership programs for the North Texas Association of the U.S. Army.

The video runs about an hour. The program was hosted by Heritage’s James Carafano, Vice President of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, E. W. Richardson Fellow, and Director of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies.