His father fled with their family to the U.S. during the Hungarian Uprising of 1956, explaining to his 10-year-old son, "We were born Americans, but in the wrong place.
"[3] He recalled his early years and relations with his father in several articles, deriving therefrom a philosophy of the U.S. and the U.S. idea which has defined much of his academic pursuits.
Turning back to academics, Schramm then became a professor of political science at Ashland University and director of special programs of the Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs in 1987.
He has taught courses on U.S. political thought, great U.S. texts, Abraham Lincoln, Shakespeare and the "Human Being and Citizen".
Schramm provided daily commentary on current events at the Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs weblog, "No Left Turns".