Come up Big: My Journey Through Vietnam, Harvard, the White House, the Department of State, and as CEO in Corporate America - Hardcover

Wardell, Charles W. B., III: - Born extremely prematurely and weighing just two pounds, the doctor told my dear mother Elsa, "Don't even think you've had a child." Against those odds, I survived--and overcame many odds along the way. School was a struggle: I was wrestling with dyslexia and in constant academic turmoil. Later, I was asked to leave Hamilton College for academic reasons, only to be drafted because of the war in Vietnam. But I thrived in the Army and on the battlefields and rose to the rank of First Lieutenant, admired by my peers and decorated for combat action. Back home, I tried to get into college once again but I was held back because of the unpopularity of the war, but mostly due to my scores and grades, and I only managed to get into one college--Harvard. How ironic that I graduated cum laude. I landed just one job and it was at the White House working for General Haig--it was 1973 and the Watergate scandal was breaking. I survived Watergate intact, and kept slugging for the next 30 years. I turned 80 this year and may never retire because I'm too busy working!