At the end of the twentieth century, as moral standards decline (especially among public figures), our nation is in need of men and women of character. In Character Counts, renowned thinker and cultural critic Os Guinness has gathered together short biographical and reflective chapters about four remarkable world figures who not only withstood the extreme adversities of their offices and situations but flourished and grew under pressure. How did they do it? When did George Washington acquire the courage and tolerance to become the president of a fledgling new democracy? What enabled William Wilberforce to forge the way for the abolition of slavery and reformation of morals in England? How did Abraham Lincoln change from an awkward, undereducated country boy into the eloquent and determined leader of a war-torn America? What inner strength sustained Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn during long years of imprisonment and exile in the Gulag Archipelago? Concerned citizens and all who are eager to raise the level of character in this generation and the next will draw inspiration from these brief, readable biographies. The four insightful chapters reveal that adversity, apart from its power to overwhelm, has the potential to spotlight true moral character and produce life-changing leaders.