 Of course, we're accustomed to thinking of courage during a time of war, but democracy requires political courage as well. In 1954, when he was convalescing from a painful back operation, Senator John F. Kennedy had time to think about political courage. The result was a book entitled Profiles in Courage, in which he wrote, In the days ahead, only the very courageous will be able to take the hard and unpopular decisions necessary for our survival