Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.
So often we hear that Congress is broken and that reforms are needed to help overhaul the system so that Congress can address the serious problems facing our country. This is no doubt true and many organizations are working to fix this serious problem.
However, even if there is a massive overhaul in the rules of Congress and reforms related to how members of Congress are elected are enacted, Congress and our democracy will still not function effectively unless those who run for office represent a new type of elected leader based on servant leadership principles that are so sorely lacking today.
Fortunately, there is a growing realization that healthy self governance and the protection of our cherished democratic principles requires a new focus on leadership and many examples abound.
Retired General Wesley Clark leads one such effort through Renew America Together, an organization designed to promote and achieve greater common ground in America by reducing partisan division and gridlock. Their mission is to revitalize public and political discourse by teaching and promoting the leadership principles that put country before party.
Through the Civility Leadership Institute, participants work through an exciting curriculum, hear from dynamic nationally recognized speakers, and strengthen their relationships with each other all resulting in developing the skills needed for a renewal of our American democracy.
In General Clark’s recent CityBiz interview, he explains how communication training courses help regular citizens and future leaders understand that governance is about what brings us together and not what divides us.
Universities across the country are increasingly understanding they must serve an important role in advancing leadership principles. The Pennsylvania State University through the McCourtney Institute of Democracy offers a fellowship program where students are introduced to a different side of democracy—one that focuses not on campaigns and elections, but on bringing people together to work on common problems. Students learn about organizations doing this kind of work, and develop the skills necessary to facilitate conversations about community issues.
The classroom work is followed by an internship program at one of many cross-partisan democracy organizations across the country. This hands-on approach to democracy and leadership allows students to experience real life experiences at organizations that bring people together to solve common problems.
These are just two examples of many innovative new programs working to advance steward leadership in our nation; a leadership model that understands the critical importance of civil political discourse and critical thinking to a functioning democracy. Leadership that is direct and honest in public statements that puts ethical commitments above partisan and career objectives. Leadership that understands the importance of respect for all persons, including opponents, and a willingness to engage constructively with those across the aisle.
This idea of steward leadership in America is not new. While many argue the divide that separates us now is worse than ever, 70 years ago our nation was deeply divided during Senator Joe McCarthy's ruthless hearings to track down Americans who without proof were alleged Communists. We were a deeply divided country then as we are today and thus looking back can serve as a reminder of how remarkable leaders can make a difference.
As Senator Margaret Smith boarded the Senate subway to head to the chamber floor on June 1, 1950, another senator asked her why she looked so serious and asked her if she was going to give a speech. Her reply without hesitation was, "Yes, and you will not like it!" Surely it was the same feeling that Liz Cheney had 70 years later before her speech to Congress.
Smith, the first and only woman in the Senate in 1950, epitomized what servant leadership is as she put her political career at risk. Her words should be remembered today as we educate the next generation about what true leadership is:
"I speak as a Republican. I speak as a woman. I speak as a United States Senator. I speak as an American. Those of us who shout the loudest about Americanism in making character assassinations are all too frequently those who, by our own words and acts, ignore some of the basic principles of Americanism:
The right to criticize;
The right to hold unpopular beliefs;
The right to protest;
The right of independent thought.
Yet to displace it with a Republican regime embracing a philosophy that lacks political integrity or intellectual honesty would prove equally disastrous to this nation. The nation sorely needs a Republican victory. But I don't want to see the Republican Party ride to political victory on Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear."
Today our country needs servant leaders more than ever.
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."