We drove through the rain and deep fog. We could barely make out the National Museum of the Marine Corps as we traveled northbound on I-95. Just the red light at the top of its 210-foot steel mast letting us know it's there.
By the time we rolled into Washington, one of the only things you could see was the three steel spires of the Air Force Memorial, rising over the Pentagon. We drove around, heading to our hotel, and could see just the base of the Washington Monument.
My 6-year-old son immediately knew what 9/11 was as we came around the bend and saw the Pentagon. He doesn't even begin to comprehend the power of that moment, but he learned it was a time where America came together.
That's why I want to bring back my July 4th essay. It was one of my least opened pieces, which makes sense. I sent it the week of July 4th, and most of you were probably at barbecues, not reading email. But the people who did open it shared it as one of my most widely shared pieces, so I want to resurface it for those of you who missed it.
THE JULY 4TH ESSAY
That room in 1776 turned two men into enemies. Fifty years to the day, something happened. June 30, 2026
In it, I shared an uncommon story about two of the signers of the Declaration of Independence who were sworn enemies, but knew the importance of being united.
Two of those men, with incredible differences between them, chose to be united in that room. They went on to spend the next five decades as enemies, two future presidents who stopped speaking to each other for eleven years. Then, as old men, one of them picked up a pen and wrote to the other. Historians note that more than 150 letters were exchanged across the last fourteen years of their lives, two former enemies arguing, remembering, needling, and forgiving. They died on the same day, the 4th of July, 1826, fifty years to the day after they signed.
Sworn enemies, in the end, did something even more amazing. Forgive and unite.
Here is the good news. In a Gallup survey from May of 2026, 69% of Americans said the country has achieved at least a fair amount of its founding ideals (Gallup, 2026). Roughly 9 in 10 say the right to vote, equal protection under the law, and freedom of speech are core to who we are (AP-NORC, 2024). Humankind agrees more than it disagrees. We have just built a world that profits from hiding it.
Inspire Forward,
YOUR PERSPECTIVE
Last week, you said
We asked: How many friends' phone numbers do you know by heart?
THIS WEEK
What's closer to the truth about Americans today?
Results next week.
ON THE RYAN VET SHOW
