Donald Trump and the American Legion Boys Nation 2017

Boys Nation is an annual forum concerning civic training, government, leadership, and Americanism that is run by the

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war veterans headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is made up of state, U.S. territory, and overseas departments, and these are in turn made up of ...

. One hundred Boys Nation Senators are chosen from a pool of over 20,000 Boys State participants, making it one of the most selective educational programs in the United States. Each year, two delegates in the summer after their junior year of

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

are selected from each of the fifty American Legion

Boys State The American Legion Boys State and American Legion Auxiliary Girls State are summer leadership and citizenship programs for high school juniors, which focus on exploring the mechanics of American government and politics. The programs are sponsor ...

programs in the United States (Hawaii does not host a Boys State however Washington DC does). These delegates attend a week-long event in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morg ...

funded by scholarships. The event endeavors to teach delegates about the processes of the

Federal government of the United States The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...

by establishing a mock

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and organizing mock elections of a Boys Nation Senate President Pro Tempore, Senate Secretary, Vice President, and President. Senators also attend lectures and forums, and visit governmental institutions and historical sites.

Tom Brokaw Thomas John Brokaw (; born February 6, 1940) is an American retired network television journalist and author. He first served as the co-anchor of ''The Today Show'' from 1976 to 1981 with Jane Pauley, then as the anchor and managing editor of '' ...

and former president

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

were previous Boys Nation representatives. It is a tradition for the student senators to take a private tour of the White House and be received by the current president. Boys Nation senators also ordinarily receive private tours of the United States Supreme Court, the Congress, the Pentagon, and the State Department, several senators have also met with the incumbent president, including

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

in 2017. Students assume the role of a United States Senator, representing their respective (Boys) State. They write and introduce bills and debate in the senate chambers. Delegates are split into political parties and draft a party platform as well as perform usual party duties like nominations for president and vice-president, along with elected party leadership. The

American Legion Auxiliary The American Legion Auxiliary (ALA) is a separate entity from the American Legion that shares the same values. Composed of spouses, mothers, daughters, granddaughters, and sisters of American war veterans. Founded in 1919, the ALA is dedicated to ...

runs a similar event called

Girls Nation Girls Nation is an annual civic training program run by the American Legion Auxiliary.{{cite web, last=American Legion Auxiliary , title=What We Do , url=http://www.alaforveterans.org/what_we_do/ala_girls_nation/Pages/default.aspx , work=American L ...

Notable alumni

* David Barlow, United States Attorney, District of Utah *

Max Baucus Maxwell Sieben Baucus ( Enke; born December 11, 1941) is an American politician who served as a United States senator from Montana from 1978 to 2014. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a U.S. senator for over 35 years, making him the long ...

, United States Ambassador and Senator, Montana *

Beau Biden Joseph Robinette "Beau" Biden III (February 3, 1969 – May 30, 2015) was an American politician, lawyer, and officer in the Army Judge Advocate General's Corps from Wilmington, Delaware. The oldest child of current U.S. president Joe Bid ...

, Attorney General of Delaware *

, Former

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

anchorman *

Steve Bullock Steve, Steven, or Stephen Bullock may refer to: *Steve Bullock (British politician) (born 1953), first directly elected mayor of the London Borough of Lewisham *Steve Bullock (American politician) Stephen Clark Bullock (born April 11, 1966) is ...

, Governor of Montana *

Aneesh Chopra Aneesh Paul Chopra (born July 13, 1972) is an American executive who served as the first Chief Technology Officer of the United States. He was appointed in 2009 by President Barack Obama and was at the White House through 2012. Chopra previously ...

, United States Chief Technology Officer *

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. Christie, who was born in N ...

, Former

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David Cicilline David Nicola Cicilline (; born July 15, 1961) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the 36th mayor of Providence from 2003 to 2011, the first openly ...

, United States Representative, Rhode Island *

, 42nd President of the United States *

Tom Cotton Thomas Bryant Cotton (born May 13, 1977) is an American politician, attorney, and former military officer serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator for Arkansas since 2015. A memb ...

, United States Senator, Arkansas *

Mitch Daniels Mitchell Elias Daniels Jr. (born April 7, 1949) is an American academic administrator, businessman, author, and retired politician. A Republican, Daniels served as the 49th governor of Indiana from 2005 to 2013. Since 2013, Daniels has been pr ...

, Former

Governor of Indiana The governor of Indiana is the head of government of the State of Indiana. The governor is elected to a four-year term and is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the functions of many agencies of the Indiana state governmen ...

, Current President,

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and ...

Lawrence DiCara Lawrence "Larry" S. DiCara (born in Dorchester, Boston) is an American attorney and author. Early life and education DiCara was born in Dorchester, a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, and is a graduate of the Boston Latin School. He hold ...

, Attorney, Politician, former Boston City Council President * H. Alston Johnson III, Former federal judicial nominee to the

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Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...

, professional NBA player *

John Neely Kennedy John Neely Kennedy (born November 21, 1951) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Louisiana since 2017. He served as the Louisiana State Treasurer from 2000 to 2017. Kennedy has been a me ...

, United States Senator, Louisiana *

Alan Keyes Alan Lee Keyes (born August 7, 1950) is an American politician, political activist, author, and perennial candidate who served as the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs from 1985 to 1987. A member of the Repub ...

, politician * Michael S. Lee, United States Senator, Utah *

Joe Lieberman Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; born February 24, 1942) is an American politician, lobbyist, and attorney who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee for ...

, United States Senator, Connecticut and VP Candidate *

Donal Logue Donal Francis Logue (born February 27, 1966) is a Canadian actor. He starred in the film '' The Tao of Steve'' and has had roles in the TV series ''Sons of Anarchy'', ''Vikings'', ''Grounded for Life'', ''Copper'', '' Terriers'', and, as Detecti ...

, film and television actor *

Gray H. Miller Gray Hampton Miller (born December 9, 1948 in Houston, Texas) is a Senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Education and career Miller attended the United States Merchant Marin ...

, U.S. District Court Judge * Nate Morris, Founder and CEO, Rubicon Global *

Eric Motley Eric Lamar Motley (born 1972) is the Deputy Director of the National Gallery of Art, located in Washington, D.C. Early life and education Eric was born near Montgomery, Alabama, United States and grew up in the Madison Park community (Montgomery, ...

, Former

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other na ...

Official *

Scott Murphy Matthew Scott Murphy (born January 26, 1970) is an American entrepreneur and politician. He represented parts of New York state's Capital District (excluding the city of Albany) in the United States House of Representatives for a portion of one ...

, United States Representative, New York * T. Charles Pierson, Former CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America *

Andre Quintero Andre Quintero is the former mayor of El Monte, California. He is a registered Democrat. Quintero was elected mayor in November 2009, defeating Ernest Gutierrez, and was reelected in November 2011. In 2020 he was defeated by Jessica Ancona. ...

, Mayor, El Monte, California *

Ben Sasse Benjamin Eric Sasse ( ; born February 22, 1972) is an American politician and academic administrator serving as the junior United States senator for Nebraska since 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party. Born in Plainview, Nebraska, Sa ...

, United States Senator, Nebraska *

Jonathan Shapiro (writer) Jonathan Shapiro is a writer, producer, attorney and former Assistant U.S. Attorney as well as Of Counsel at Kirkland & Ellis. He is the co-creator and Executive Producer, with David E. Kelley, of Amazon Prime's TV show '' Goliath'' starring Bill ...

, Emmy Award winning Producer/Writer *

Gaddi Vasquez Gaddi Holguin Vasquez (born January 22, 1955) was the 8th United States Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture, in Rome, Italy. He was nominated by President George W. Bush and unanimously confirmed by the United State ...

, Former Director of the Peace Corps * Scott Walker, 45th Governor of Wisconsin

References

{{reflist

External links

Boys Nation
official website
American Legion
website American Legion Educational organizations based in the United States

Notable alumni

See also

References

External links