Notes on Excellence

• A Message to Garcia was published as an inspirational essay in March 1899
• This essay was so popular that it was reprinted and made into a pamphlet and a book
• It sold over 40 million copies
• Translated into 37 different languages 
• The essay was made into a movie twice (once in 1916 and the other one in 1936)
• "Take a Message to Garcia" became a popular initiative slogan and is to this day used in the military
• Setting- Spanish American War 
• Garcia- a revolutionary seeking cuban independence from Spain 
• Rowan- an Army officer 
• Mckinely- 25th president assassinated six months into his second term by an anarchist, the tallest mountain was renamed for him in North America until 2015
• perihelion- the point where a planet (like mars) is closest to the sun, and therefore is at its brightest 
• slipshod- careless, lackadaisical, slapdash, remiss
• Imbecility- incapability, feebleness, stupidity