160 years ago this month, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. To reflect on the legacy of Lincoln – and what it can teach us today – No Labels hosted a call yesterday with one of America’s preeminent historians.
Princeton’s Dr. Allen C. Guelzo said Lincoln’s greatness stemmed from his humility, moral clarity, and an unwavering commitment to doing the right thing the right way. Even during the darkest days of the Civil War, Lincoln held fast to the rule of law and the democratic process.
“If any American President ever had a justification for pleading an emergency that would lead to canceling or postponing an election,” Guelzo said, “Lincoln certainly had it in 1864 [the election held during the height of the Civil War]. But he doesn’t do that. He submits himself to the electoral process.”
Watch the Lincoln + Dr. Guelzo call here.
Lincoln, in short, put country before party or his own personal interest – and No Labels was fortunate for many years to have a leader with that same integrity: our founding chairman, Senator Joe Lieberman.
More than anything else, two things drove Senator Lieberman forward: his faith and his belief that America and our democracy are best served by reasoned, principled leaders, an ideal he embodied more than anyone in his generation.
His passing last year left a hole that can never truly be filled. But, his vision and his example, live on.
In the coming weeks and throughout this year, we will be elevating a series of new leaders who work to put country before party, and who will point a way forward for our movement of the commonsense majority.
That is why we want to invite you to a special zoom event on Wednesday, May 14, at 6:30 PM ET, where we will introduce you to the first group of leaders to step up and serve as National Leaders. They embrace the values of our movement and are committed to restoring the kind of cooperation and common sense our country so desperately needs.
Register for the May 14 leadership event here.
We hope you will tune in to help welcome these leaders who are putting themselves firmly on the side of the commonsense majority.
Before that important event, we also hope you will continue to follow our Issue Spotlight Series, articles on nolabels.org where we lay out just the facts – no spin – about serious policy challenges, the numbers and stats you should know, what Americans think, and much more.
This week, we are focused on one of the most overlooked threats to our national resilience: America’s medical supply chain.
Today, a staggering percentage of our essential medications, protective equipment, and pharmaceutical ingredients come from overseas, particularly China. In fact, China produces over 90% of global N95 masks and nitrile gloves that are critical to preventing the spread of disease. That is not just an economic concern; it is a national security risk, as we saw during the COVID pandemic.
Next week, we will be hosting a call with Bill Reinsch, senior adviser and Scholl Chair emeritus with the Economics Program and Scholl Chair in International Business at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), to break down the scope of the problem and what must be done now to protect the American people. As trade expert who served for 15 years on the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, he has the experience and perspective to speak on why relocating more of our medical supply chains out of China is so important. The date and time will be announced soon. Please stay tuned to your email for details on how to RSVP as they become available.
We hope you will join us for both events, because the problems we face are real, but so is the leadership we are building to face them.
