Friend,

Earlier this summer, at the Mackinac Policy Conference, I met Jon Meacham, the famous American historian and author who has published a number of books, including “The Soul of America” back in 2018. This may be old news to you (it was a pretty popular book!) But between my work in Congress, running for office, and keeping up with Rocky and Boomer – I wasn’t following it very closely. 

So, when I found myself in a room with him, I seized the moment and I asked him to give me some historical context that puts the tough times our country is going through into perspective. I had been having a tough day, thinking about the future of our country, and I wanted him to tell me it was all going to be okay. I asked him to tell me that we’ve been through this before, and that it’s not as bad as it seems.

Well, like any good star author, he informed me that “The Soul of America” – the book he’d written three years ago – does exactly what I had asked for. It’s a book that goes through chapters in our history – the Civil War, the Great Depression, the McCarthy era, the civil rights movement, the Vietnam war – periods where our country was fighting amongst ourselves. And, it describes how we came out of it.

Turns out, every single time, it’s been because we’ve had two common factors: engaged citizens and principled leaders. 

In all of these cases, average citizens got off the sidelines and started to demand better for their kids and their country. And in all of those cases, principled leaders heard the voice of the people and rose to the moment. 

So, as we find ourselves in another tough moment in our history, take heart: this is not the end, and we will get through it. In the meantime, thank you for being an engaged citizen and for not sitting on the sidelines. And I commit to you that I will do my utmost to be that principled leader that you deserve.