The Bush Institute is focused on ensuring opportunity for all, strengthening democracy, and advancing free societies.
A note from David J. Kramer
Greetings from the Bush Institute, where our commemorations of America’s 250th birthday are in full swing!
The latest issue of The Catalyst: A Journal of Ideas from the Bush Institute tackled “The American idea turns 250” with essays from former top Bush Administration officials Karl Rove, Karen Hughes, and Carlos Gutierrez; Medal of Honor recipient Florent Groberg; and a modern-day descendant of Alexis de Tocqueville, among others. In February, two of the most compelling chroniclers of our nation’s founding – acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Rick Atkinson – took to our stage to discuss the framers’ dreams, dilemmas, and defining choices.
I’m delighted to introduce Megan Bunce, our new Director of Veterans and Military Families. Megan leads our work to ensure veterans, service members, and their loved ones successfully transition to civilian life. She’s had a distinguished career in the veteran space, most recently at The Boeing Company. She is a daughter of a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, and draws inspiration from her brother, a Marine severely wounded in Iraq.
I also want to highlight a few things we’re doing to provide a strong future for this great nation for the next 250 years.
In February, we published “We the People: Pluralism in Real Life,” a plainspoken playbook for community leaders navigating social polarization.
Immigration Policy Director Laura Collins moderated a panel on shared purpose and the urgent need to rebuild trust in democratic institutions with Republican Governor Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma and Democratic Governor Wes Moore of Maryland at the National Governors Association meeting in March. Our education team also partnered with the National Parents Union in March to host a congressional briefing and reception in Washington on the science of reading and shared our Leading on Reading framework with attendees.
On the global front, marking the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, I co-authored a piece with Elizabeth Kennedy Trudeau, the Bradford M. Freeman Managing Director of Global Policy, and Igor Khrestin, Senior Advisor of Global Policy, titled “Ukraine can still win.”
We also published the latest chapter in the PEPFAR Beyond 2030 series on countries and communities likely to be left behind if we turn too much to bilateral agreements. And, more than a month before the Iran war began, Global Policy Director Natalie Gonnella-Platts discussed the situation facing dissidents and why there is “Hope for the future of Iran.”
Our work to build a better future for our nation and our world wouldn’t be possible without your support, and we thank you.
