With the lnp, kirby Junior Center for constitutional studies and citizenship, a topic which we will be talking about at length today in the book featured today, which Say Something about in a moment. Tim added, a detail of a teacher who is enthusiast mystically excited about having art. The odyssey from the teaching in her high school and i laughed because in the graduate School Government where we teach people on capitol hill who are involved in legislation in the executive branch this weekend literally kicked off a one credit on the odyssey and what you can learn about it for civilized so i sort of had an out loud cackle as im prepping for this talk and my i id also like to thank and welcome cspan listeners watchers and film for filming tonight. Cspan is going to be wisely i think televising this timely book this important book now tim goeglein is Vice President of external and Government Relations for focus the family. He has served as a specialist assistant to president George W Bush and as Deputy Director of the white office of public liaison. Tim has served as a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation and as a Communications Director for senator dan coats of indiana and gary bauer at the for working families. Tim, his wife jenny, have two sons and in addition tim has authored a number of books, American Restoration and now his latest toward more Perfect Union the moral and cultural case for teaching the Great American story a more Perfect Union. That word hangs on the modern ear slightly strangely. How can something be perfect then be more perfect . But that phrase when it was adopted in the preamble of the constitution by our founding fathers, was understood slightly differently. It comes from the old latin roots, perfecto gus from pere factum. That is to say, through our good deeds, write something very different. The understanding of something done and complete that we can now ignore and have run on autopilot for something weve learned has been bad thing to do. And you, tim, is going to be basically teaching us something tonight how we might perfect our union once again. And by the way, before tim takes podium, i just i have to say, tim is a great lover of god and country and and culture. His friends. Right. And i count myself among his friends, and he is also one of the most optimistic and cheerful people i have ever met. And i point out, because then optimus awesome comes through in this book in a very beautiful precisely as he handles some of the grimmest mistakes in american miseducation over the last 70 years and. I think we all know here that optimism is something in high demand and, in very short supply right now in the states. And so without ado, tim goeglein. Matt, thank you so much and may i say it right at the top with introduction like that, i should say thank you and good night. Im genuinely humbled. Those very kind comments and im especially humbled to be at Hillsdale College because although i did not know or intend that i enjoy such a esteemed invitation, hillsdale plays a significant inter role in this book and. I hope everybody here and 50,000 of your best friends will buy and read the book. And by the way, im pleased that you began with the title from our great preamble, the constitution. I, i know where im standing and what im what i and standing in front of. And it seems to all make sense. And so it means a lot to me by way, i should Say Something that i think its past of all that people here, people who are watching, listening, people who actually who have a a Strong Association with hillsdale or may not know, but Frederick Douglass plays a starring role in part of of my newest book. And im very pleased to to say for those who dont know that that the great man visited and spoke at Hillsdale College two or three times, i believe and there is a what consider to be a priceless portrait that was taken by a hillsdale michigan photographer of frederick. Ive seen the original photo which i consider to be a bit of a treasure and i say in the book and ill say this evening that i believe that Frederick Douglass deserves deserves to by reputation and by greatness to be considered in the in the in the pantheon of our of our of our founding generation. What he did and achieved is stunning. And im pleased hes honored in the new capital visitor center. Im pleased that he is honored in this portrait at hillsdale. And i hope for those who enjoy book that you will come to see that we need to learn more and know more about about this great i do have some focus on the colleagues here. Im thrilled that theyre here former Senate Colleagues a couple of former white house colleagues and its where id to begin my book talk if i may some of you may recognize the photograph of a man who influenced me very deeply and just by the probably of god, i met three times during my tenure at the white house working for president bush and. I remember very strongly i write about this in the book, the very first time i met David Mccullough. By now i say wmility, ive read, i think, everything that he that he written has written. Bus particularly struck in this conversation that i h with one of americas really finest historians of the second part of the 20th century by, a discussion i had with him about insomnia. Of all things, why was David Mccullough suffering from insomnia . I thought he was joking when h told me this. At first i said, no, no, no. He said i ith politicians all of the time, which he he did. And he said, i speak all time colleges, universities, schools. And he said, it concerns me very, very deeply that its not just the rising generation of Young Americans who dont know our history, dont know our constitution who dont know our culture. They dont know our american story. And as i was researching my book, i found out a very important i think, comment from doctor who said, im quoting it. He said, every day, as mccullough reads the papers, he said, it seems as if leaders are taking positions based politics and have forgotten about history, he said they, are unaware of the past and in how they will be remembered in the future that seems timely, topical and relevant, doesnt it. Lincoln said that its not enough to assert he was a euclidean, and he said over and again you have to demonstrate. But i think its what made him a great litigator and i would like to in in the best lincoln manner, if i may were meeting today the day after his birthday, id like to, if i may demonstrate not from opinion. I have a very dear friend who i relish and love. We spent time together many years in the senate and. We remember Daniel Patrick moynihan, the late senator from new york, who everyone is entitled to his own opinions, but not everyones entitled to his own facts. And i think in part that is the problem that we have excused fact, history and weve replaced it with emotion and attitude in part. So instead of us sharing a bunch opinions, let me share. I may our empirical and attempt anyway to demonstrate part of what i use as the golden narrative in the first part of of toward a more perfect. This by the way, is a represented tivEmpirical Data set of. What what almost all of the data shows in what Public School studentseted do or do not know about our histo about our culture about constitution, our declaration upon the catechesis, the great federalist papers, etc. And is a test, by the way. Is taken from a test that is given ry legal who wants become a citizen. D this is substantial survey. Its an accurate snapshot of what public students in that particular period of time not ago knew or know. And youll see that only one in four could name George Washington as the first president of the United States of america. Only 10 knew there are nine justices on the United States court, less than 30 only. Only 9 knew that the president heads, the executive branch of our government, only 3 were able to answer six out of the ten questions. Thats a pass score for the u. S. Citizenship test. I love space and aviation houston, comma, we a problem by the way these students would now be in their early to midthirties and they are casting votes. They are rallying in theyre even running and Holding Political office yet they were woefully ignorant of our history and our system of government. By the way, i wanted to share something else, if i may. There was another 2009 survey. I think this really matters that found that more than half of their respondents attributed this, by the way, in all of the 20th century. Right in all of the 20th century, this quote really matters from each according to his ability to each according to his deeds and this survey found that more than half respondents a attributed this, quote to either George Washington and thomas paine or president obama and not from the communist manifesto. In the same period of time. I want to share something else, if i may. I know that im speaking hillsdale are hillsdale of course is simpatico with the Intercollegiate Studies Institute isi. But whether its left or right in views, the empirical questions are what count. And i was particularly with an easy survey this is a large survey. 2500 american right only of of of all could name the three branches of the United Government including. Ly 36 of College Graduates who could do so. 18 could not name a single right or a freedom guaranteed under. ThUnited States constitution, one the highest school on the civics test administered by isi. Ill say it again the highest performing science was harvard university, osstudents scored a barely 70 , i might say even grading on a curve thats a dplus i mean the great Harvey Mansfield of harvard famously opposed inflation he said ill put the grade inflation score at the of the paper ill write a line and ill put the actual what they actually earned underneath d plus that should sober us. Now ten years later in preparing this i wanted to see measure comparable Empirical Data sets that in the same breath you could you could talk about hoping that you know a decade later things had perhaps improved. And so this is a 2018 survey that was by the Woodrow Wilson national foundation. And what i liked about this data set is that they did a large survey of people in all 50 states and they fo t only 53 were able to earn a passing grade in u. S. History, 37 . This actually. 37 believe that benjamin anklin had invented the light and 12 believed that Dwight David Eisenhower led our military in the american civil war. By the way, i put in peneses here a bit of a bit of humor pray the civil ended in 1865 and eisenhower was not born until 18,ht. By the way, just a bit of humor 2 actually said that Climate Change caused the cold war. Okay. I maybe they thought it was funny as well. By the way, there was 2017 survey that was done by the American Council of trustees and alumni. I was taken by this particular survey and they found that 43 of all College Graduates do not know that the First Amendment gave them guarantees, codifies freedom of speech by. The way i think this explains a lot, dont you . Even as an inveterate and i am one. Thank you for saying so. This is sobering. Were not on the road to were there we are living in a time of mass historic, cultural and, constitutional, measurable illiteracy and. I think its application is colossal. By the way. I to make religious liberty and the rights of conscience a substantial part this book because vocationally and profession fully during my decade in the u. S. Senate for dan coats. Nearly eight years at the white house for George W Bush in the last 14 years as one of the Vice President s at focus the family i care pash honestly and deeply about religious liberty and conscience rights. I would argue strongly that if we do not have religious liberty and conscience rights, if these redefined, we no longer have the United States of america. And in this particular part of the i, someone whose worldview so broadly or narrowly speaking and out of time may have been probably was fundamentally different than my own. Thats good. Thats good. Orwell famously that hwho controls the language politics right politics is a branch of ethics right he famously wrote all animals equal but some animals are more equal th others. Okay i didnt come to hillsdale to talk about pigs,ut convincing americans equality demand as we treat religious individuals and organizations worse than others is a masters stroke of language and. I demonstrate in the book why increasingly, measurably. Our religious liberty and rights of conscience are under attack. And it is a predict regular frontal assault. One of the great books that David Mccullough wrote and its really rather extraordinary was on john adams, one of my favorite president s, the second president of the United States. And also its now forgotten his extremely important tent book on the constitution in some or all of you may know that adams was not present the Constitutional Convention nor thomas jefferson. Jefferson was in paris. Adams was was in london. Right. Im sure. They were emailing and texting to find out what was going on. Independence. But but a number of years after right after not the Constitutional Convention, adams in a famous to the massachusetts militia, this is 1798, right . By the way, adams lived to be a very old man. He wrote that our constitution was made only, you know, only a very dangerous word. Its like always and never. Right adams was a was what was a genius. New what he was sayingere. He said, our cost of tuition was ma only for a moral and religious people. S wholly in adequate to the government of any. Im raisinright h adams was not an evangelical christian blights of the 21st century. Most people of goodwill would not say that he was you at every turn. It sort of an orthodox theological know biblical christian in this regard. But what he is writing is timeless when it comes to the application of the United States america this not just any other country this is our country. And what an exceptional, remarkable country this is exceptional. And i that history has proven. Adams be correct when people abandon a moral or Righteous Foundation societies collaps and. Many of the ills we face as a nation today ive iamed just some of them incivility broken families drug abuse, urban violence. These are manifestations. This is to me that part we have replae blueprint bequeathed to us through the declaration of indece and the constitution ution with a blank do. Each person is told to fill in for himself or herself. I went back and read many the speeches of president eisenhower and. Im convinced that the 1953 inaugural address is very underrated. This is a this is a great speech and there is a gem of a sentence that is thats in that. And placed it in the book. And i wanted to evoke it and tease it out a bit because in 53, eisenhower power says that a people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both. I think that we have in part forgotten our principles while exalting ourut without principles to serve as a foundation. It smso me that we will entually our privileges to and that is what we are seeing playing out in our culture every day. Id like to use some examples if i may. I am just back from speaking at a very large and a very well known universe to everybody who is at hillsdale. It shall unnamed and in all seven of the. Classes that i was honored to speak in, totaling by the way, across seven classes, a little over a thousand students, maybe, maybe a bit more. I, in each and every class. Are there any california natives or people who have spent any substantial part their young lives living in california. And in every one of those classes, the hands went up. And by the way, you know, antioch are not statistics. Okay. But i asked how many of you know who father sarah is across seven class is one hand one ill repeat. Across seven classes one hand father sarah of course, broadly or narrowly defined, is one of the principal of california and. The missions and what achieved in this exceptional state this remarkably beautiful, exceptional exam three place california he has been effectively erased and by way we are standing meeting to here at hillsdale all in washington dc and just three blocks from where we areting there is one of the most beautiful monuments, statues of abraham lincoln. Im a lincoln man to z. Count me. This is a this is a remarkable person for all history, american or not. And we have had a delegate to the United States house of representative tives who has just yet again filed right. The equivalent of legislation to dismantle i have this great statue the monument of of lincoln this told in this era of unfortunate that iconoclasm this this monument was paid for by former american