A Nice Ride: Stories of America

I originally intended this book to be an autobiography but it soon became my journey book as a "Story of Stories." Histories of great leaders and personal ancestors, pioneers & the heroic individuals who paid the ultimate price contributing to the fabric of our great Republic. My ancestors include the King of the Picts, Kenneth MacAlpin, whose son is thought to be the progenitor of Clan MacNab in Scotland. My parent's ancestry include the likes of both Daniel Boone who had a very close relationship with the Cherokee Tribe and Chief John Ross who led the Cherokee on the "trail of tears." I am the first cousin five generations removed of Benjamin Rush Milam one of the founders of the Republic of Texas. Three of my ancestors played meaningful roles in the "Day of Days" the June 6, 1944 Normandy invasion of Nazi occupied Europe. The 21st Chieftain of Clan MacNab won a rowing gold medal at the 1924 Paris Olympics which was featured in the film "Chariots of Fire." My relatives have fought in combat for centuries including the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the American Civil War, World War II and the Vietnam Conflict. My relative Frank McNab "The Scotsman" had a partner in another war, The Lincoln County War of the New Mexico Territory. Frank McNab's partner was Henry McCarty but history knew McCarty as "Billie the Kid." They both worked for John Chisum. Neither Frank McNab nor "Billie the Kid" would live to see peace in Lincoln County in part thanks to Sheriff Pat Garrett. Another relative Wade Hampton McNabb had a personal war with a fellow east Texas inmate Clyde Barrow. Bonny Parker and Clyde Barrow later had their permanent revenge on Wade Hampton McNabb. General A. P. Hill is an ancestor. He and General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson held the Union Army at bay during the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of the American Civil War. Captain Alexander Macnab, the British military governor of Gibraltar and later a general's aide was felled by French grapeshot at the Battle of Waterloo in 1812. I followed my ancestors into the military and had two combat flying tours during the Vietnam Conflict and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters and the Air Force Commendation Medal. There are countless stories in this book of all the leaders and heroes mentioned above but many more and in more detail in the chapters that follow.
My great fortune was to be born into a patriotic and hardworking family who loved God and America. My ancestors and relatives had minimal formal education. My four grandparents had a total of seven years of schooling. I grew up in and around coal country West Virginia. Eighteen of my relatives were killed in coal mine accidents and one was murdered on his front porch during a union war. I am the first in my family to attend a four year college. Blessed with some athletic ability I attended Duke University and was named to two football All America teams during my senior year. I later graduated from The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University with an MBA and have completed formal executive training at Stanford, Dartmouth, University of Chicago, Duke, and Northwestern. I lectured in Finance at the University of Houston and internationally for six years and then became Chair of the University's Board of Visitors.
I have been involved in the political life of our Nation for many years both as a Republican and a Democrat. I recently received a Presidential Appointment to become a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Council {board of trustees) in Washington, D. C. and have been approached twice to become a member of the United States Cabinet. I have served as a Chairman and CEO of a Fortune 1000 international energy contractor and continue to serve on the boards of two New York Stock Exchange traded companies. I have served as a director of eight publicly traded companies and over 50 private company and nonprofit boards.