Philip Sunshine

My pamphlet on Biblical Leadership Values is my citizen’s petition. I am voicing my prayers for America from the perspective of an ordinary citizen who practices his religion devoutly. When developing the pamphlet, my aim was to follow in a general way the trajectory launched at the creation of our country by Thomas Paine when he wrote Common Sense. I hope you will be influenced by the ideas described in this pamphlet. My hope is that the ideas will speak for themselves.

I love America where I was born and raised. I am not a expert historian, but I have travelled around the sun 64 times and over time have witnessed the strengths and weaknesses of many our society’s leaders. While I am not a trained religious leader, I have been blessed for the past 38 years to have observed a religious life with a wonderful spouse. Together we are blessed with three terrific children who each have terrific spouses, along with six adorable grandchildren ages 3 to 12. My life in America is more vibrant and meaningful than it would otherwise be because my American life is framed by our religious practice as observant Jews who do not work on the Sabbath.

I retired recently. In my professional life in the government, I prosecuted Nazi war criminals while at the U.S. Justice Department, served as Inspector General (acting) at the National Science Foundation, and developed plans for NASA to explore space in partnership with the private sector. As a lawyer in the business world, I negotiated acquisition agreements and, for the past fourteen years, served as the general counsel for an international law firm where I focused on risk reduction and compliance with the ethical rules that lawyers are supposed to follow.

One of my greatest joys is to hike and camp in our outstanding National Parks. My wife and I always feel blessed when we take our grandchildren on hiking and camping adventures in Acadia, the Grand Tetons, and Yellowstone.

I authored one other book: Our Family’s Ethical Values: A Personal Torah Commentary.