Bookshelf

Alumni and faculty members who would like to have their books considered for this listing should contact Stacey Himmelberger, editor of Hamilton magazine. This list, which dates back to 2018, is updated periodically with books appearing alphabetically on the date of entry.

Come Up Big: My Journey Through Vietnam, Harvard, the White House, the Department of State, and as CEO in Corporate America by Charles W. B. Wardell III ’67.

May 26, 2026

Tags Alumni Book

(Bookgo, 2025).

The author describes his autobiography like this: “Born extremely prematurely and weighing just 2 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. In school, struggling with dyslexia, I was 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. I thrived in the Army 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. In my life I applied to 18 colleges, got into two, and was kicked out of one. How ironic that I graduated cum laude from the other one.

“After Harvard, 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 actually became a CEO of a global executive search firm, which rose up to number six in the world when I left. Along the way, I had increasingly responsible jobs, starting at American Express, and I went on to work with some of the country’s biggest companies. Parts of my story are hilarious, some are very serious, and some are inspiring to anyone who is still out there slugging.”