A lifelong resident of the Cleveland area, Ted Wetzel is an engineer who spent five years at a Fortune 500 company, 17 years in marketing and management at smaller manufacturers, and then 11 years as a small-business owner before turning to his passion project. He created Fighting to Understand to spread the message that civic education and a collaborative spirit among everyday Americans can restore the core values of a democratic republic for the next generation. With a diverse group of 18 collaborators, in October he self-published the first edition of a book now titled "9 Secrets for Avoiding Divided We Fall" and is working on a plan for widespread distribution this spring. His answers have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
What's democracy's biggest challenge, in 10 words or less.
Most people don't want freedom; they would settle for a just master. (I'm not sure who to attribute this verse to.)
Describe your very first civic engagement.
In about 1995 I revived our homeowners' association. We had very few civic problems, so our goal was to create a spirit of neighborliness. One lesson is that relationships have a certain inertia that carries the spirit for decades but attrition will also weaken the spirit, often in a stealthy way. So an intentionality of inclusion is a leadership trait to be relished.
After what I view as my second civic engagement, coaching Little League, I focused on my career until 18 months ago. Then a switch flipped inside of me, asking, "Is America broken?" What would an average citizen learn if they could call time out to study that question full time? Feeling that there was no choice, I handed off my business responsibilities and went on a search for America. Now we hope the book brings hope to Americans, and we hope the book gives Americans options for how to get involved in We the People 2.0.
What was your biggest professional triumph?
Being part of an authentically functional leadership team, as VP of sales and marketing at a company that designed and manufactured switches and electronics for appliances. The cherry on top was staging celebrations, including song parodies performed by employees, when we received a supplier performance award from an appliance company. Oh — the cake onto which the cherry was placed was growing in 15 years from $4 million to $32 million in revenue.
And your most disappointing setback?
After the switch company, I purchased a small paint contracting business. We survived for 11 years but, when I'm honest with myself, my formula for growth by liberating the employees to build a virtuous cycle of opportunity was not well founded
How does some aspect of your identity influence the way you go about your work?
If I had to pick one word for my identity, perhaps "searcher" is appropriate. That's the trait that made it a joy to go after answers to the question "Is America broken?" Although there are quite a lot of common values among us Americans, I continue to be amazed that even after my 200th interview, the one after that always added a new insight. So it follows that many early answers to my question ended up in the recycle bin. Perhaps that makes me more of a "re-searcher."
What's the best advice you've ever been given?
Life is like a bicycle. It is easiest to steer if you keep moving.
Create a new flavor for Ben & Jerry's.
Red, White & You! The packaging concept is: The quart is split down the center to form half-moon shapes — but they stay together so you have to pass it back and forth. And each side is filled with striped or swirled red and white. And it's packaged with 2 spoons.
What's your favorite political movie or TV show?
"Poldark," the British historical period drama on PBS that starts at the end of the 18th century. I like that bad things happen for no good reason to good people, people die, trusts are compromised, famine strikes, envy festers — and life goes on, forgiveness is found, new growth sprouts and it takes a village.
What's the last thing you do on your phone at night?
Set the alarm. More importantly, for my first phone contact in the morning, I enjoy a short meditation email from the Center for Action and Contemplation.
What is your deepest, darkest secret?
I'd be lost without Post-It Notes. When I'm in searcher mode, I can fill up walls with them.
U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One on August 14, 2026 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. Trump is traveling to Long Island to tour law enforcement facilities in Nassau County and rally support for local Republican candidates ahead of the upcoming midterm elections
Travel Far Enough, You Meet Yourself
Is it possible that our President has simply not traveled enough?
Born and raised in Queens and attending Fordham University in the Bronx, Donald Trump has no record of traveling outside New York until he was over 20, when he transferred to a college in the neighboring state of Pennsylvania. Were his formative years amiss, then, in his learning about other places and other people?
Is his view akin to the famous New Yorker cover by Saul Steinberg, an illustration of the United States with New York City as the epicenter of the country and the Hudson River the border of the known world? We can now at least add Washington, D.C., and Mar-a-Lago to the map of “the realm.”
Our President has now traveled some, but what we recommend is another kind of travel. Not a state-sponsored trip or a venture to scout locations for future Trump Towers. This would be a genuine travel experience, enriching and eye-opening, showcasing other cultures and ways of living.
It will extend far beyond viewing military parades, hobnobbing with such “understanding” world leaders as Kim Jong Un, or taking tea with the King.
WHERE, then, should the President go? As Elon Musk’s Starship spacecraft is not yet ready to take passengers to Mars, perhaps he could explore our own vast country?
Maybe he could travel to “flyover country,” the farming states, where his ying-yanging tariffs and trade restrictions have played havoc with rural economies. Or possibly to California, number one in homeless U. S. citizens, and while there, regale homeless veterans (approximately 32,500 nationwide) with tales of his brave exploits invading and bombing foreign countries.
Or he might tour the Great Lakes, and rename the other four?
WHEN should he go? This will be tough, as he is very busy building his ballroom and renaming bodies of water.
How about a trip in early November, around the midterm elections? Despite the long-discredited accusation of widespread voter fraud, it would be reassuring to know he might be so caught up divvying out ladles of soup in a soup kitchen somewhere that he wouldn’t remember to deploy the military for “election security.”
HOW will he travel? He should definitely not take his Qatari-donated, newly renovated 747, especially after last time, when he had to be smuggled off clandestinely in a catering truck. It’s unlikely any traveling companions, like the Secretary of State or of the Treasury, are going to fall for the ruse a second time. Besides, we may need those people. No more decoys!
Perhaps the President could fly commercially, although this likely would expose him to undue suffering. Without gold bathroom fixtures and maple wood floors, the trip will be no “Luxury Experience.” If only he still had his “Trump Shuttle,” bought with a massive loan he later defaulted on, saying then, “I’m smart. I got out at a good time.”
Considering the potential pitfalls, maybe it’s best the President travel incognito, disguised perhaps as an elderly woman wearing a lot of bronzer.
Wherever, whenever, however: our President needs a vacation.
Moreover, we need a vacation from him.
If the President refuses our travel suggestions, here’s another idea:
Let’s get him a pet! He has never owned a pet. As we know with our children, pets teach essential life lessons: compassion and empathy; they instill a sense of responsibility. There is a well-established connection between those who can care for a pet and those who can care for people.
So, which pet should we choose? A puppy? A kitten? A boa constrictor?
Imagine, the President may even decide he likes having a pet. After all, what is more obedient than a well-trained dog, besides possibly the Cabinet? And what is more docile than a sweet kitten, other than plausibly the Supreme Court?
The President may even become more mellow with a pet afoot and less likely to slap tariffs on our allies, or attempt to annex our neighbors, or bully our Congress. (Realizing, of course, a bully requires active participation from the bullied to maintain his status.)
Maybe we should do both: get the President a pet and devise a travel plan for him. (Do you think we could possibly convince him to leave his phone at home?)
Let’s go for it! After all:
Travel far enough, you meet yourself. (David Mitchell)
And for our President, that would likely be the most profound discovery of all.
Amy Lockard is an Iowa resident who regularly contributes to regional newspapers and periodicals. She is working on the second of a four-book fictional series based on Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice."