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Reports on the address given by US Vice‐President Al Gore to public sector quality practitioners at the 1995 National Conference on Federal Quality held in Washington, DC, USA. Compares this occasion with a conference held 23 years ago for engineers in the US private sector. Contrasts and compares the messages and emotions from each conference.

Records the opinions of three quality professionals on the subject of ethics in relation to quality. Describes the efforts of the American Society for Quality Control to define ethics, within the context of professional behaviour, and the three key credentials when choosing the discussion participants. Reports their views on the relationship between ethics and quality.

Discusses learning histories as a new angle on the old concept of learning from the past: now learning and historical documentation occur concurrently. People learn from the history before it is old news and then feed the learning back into the project and again into the history; thus creating new knowledge and, hopefully, greater improvement. Details the efforts of a learning partnership between The W. Edwards Deming Institute and the City of Tacoma, WA, USA to share whatever learning comes out of the partnership to create additional knowledge about what makes communities successful.

Examines the notion that total quality can do for communities what it has done for businesses worldwide and describes ongoing community‐wide quality projects in the USA. Shows how respected organizations such as the Association for Quality and Participation (AQP), the World Center for Community Excellence, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and The W. Edwards Deming Institute have launched successful community‐wide quality initiatives.

Reports on total quality management at the University of Wisconsin‐Madison, as espoused by the University′s chancellor, Donna Shalala. Considers the prospects for the resurgence of the quality movement in US federal government now that Shalala is Secretary of Health and Human Resources.

Examines the past and future of total quality management through observations contributed by senior leaders of the USA quality movement on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the American Society for Quality Control, the 40th anniversary of the European Organization for Quality and the 30th anniversary of the International Academy for Quality.