On the first day of his Senate confirmation hearings, John Ashcroft raised his right hand and vowed, "I swear to unhold the laws of the United States of America, so help me God."

People who knew him intimately knew they could count on this.

And so will others as they read On My Honor, a book that reveals Ashcroft's personal beliefs on racism, abortion, capital punishment, our judicial system, his faith in God, and more.

These beliefs were not designed to answer his critics in the Senate. They are beliefs he has held for years, written when he still expected to serve a second term in the Senate.

Here is an opportunity to judge this extraordinary man from his own words and deeds. As Ashcroft says, "The verdict of history is inconsequential; the verdict of eternity is what counts."

On My Honor was previously published as Lessons From a Father to His Son, ISBN 07852-75401.