Boys Nation
Boys Nation is an annual forum concerning civic training, government, leadership, and Americanism that is run by the American Legion.[2] One hundred Boys Nation Senators are chosen from a pool of over 20,000 Boys State participants, making it one of the most selective educational programs in the United States.[3][4]
Each year, two delegates in the summer after their junior year of high school are selected from each of the fifty American Legion Boys State programs in the United States (Hawaii does not host a Boys State however Washington DC does).[2][4] These delegates attend a week-long event in Washington, DC funded by scholarships.
The event endeavors to teach delegates about the processes of the Federal government of the United States by establishing a mock Senate and organizing mock elections of a Boys Nation Senate President Pro Tempore, Senate Secretary, Vice President, and President. Senators also attend lectures and forums, and visit governmental institutions and historical sites. Tom Brokaw and former president Bill Clinton were previous Boys Nation representatives.[5] It is a tradition for the student senators to take a private tour of the White House and be received by the current president. Boys Nation senators also ordinarily receive private tours of the United States Supreme Court, the Congress, the Pentagon, and the State Department, several senators have also met with the incumbent president, including Donald Trump in 2017.[6]
Students assume the role of a United States Senator, representing their respective (Boys) State. They write and introduce bills and debate in the senate chambers. Delegates are split into political parties and draft a party platform as well as perform usual party duties like nominations for president and vice-president, along with elected party leadership.[4]
The American Legion Auxiliary runs a similar event called Girls Nation.[7]
List of Boys Nation Senators
| State | Senator | High School |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska | Grady Eule | Eagle River High School |
| Alaska | Patrick Omey | Marine Military Academy |
| Alabama | Landon Bruski | Madison County High School |
| Alabama | Thomas Fleming | Home Schooled |
| Arkansas | Harrison Henry | Fayetteville High School |
| Arkansas | Tanner Holden | Benton High School |
| Arizona | Ghais Redmon Jr. | Tempe Union High School District |
| Arizona | Chase Hoel | Pusch Ridge Christian Academy |
| California | Daniel Zhao | Flintridge Preparatory School |
| California | Hugo Chiasson | Geffen Academy at UCLA |
| Colorado | Richard Bosch | Liberty Common School |
| Colorado | Siddharth Nareddy | Peak to Peak Charter School |
| Connecticut | James Murano | St. Joseph High School |
| Connecticut | Daniel Pichardo | Newington High School |
| D.C. | Mustafa Baryal | Stafford Senior High School |
| D.C. | Jackson Wilson | St. Albans School |
| Delaware | Guillermo Cabrera | Cab Calloway School of the Arts |
| Delaware | Alexander Budd | First State Military Academy |
| Florida | Benjamin Black | Ponte Vedra High School |
| Florida | Siddarth Rama | Cypress Bay High School |
| Georgia | Anant Gautam | South Forsyth High School |
| Georgia | Hillis Kopecky | The Westminster Schools |
| Iowa | Param Sampat | Cedar Falls High School |
| Iowa | Andrew Dong | Iowa City West High School |
| Idaho | Luke Gilliam | Bishop Kelly High School |
| Idaho | Hoyoon Song | Bishop Kelly High School |
| Illinois | Donovan Scott | Sacred Heart-Griffin High School |
| Illinois | Patrick Weaver | Cary-Grove Community High School |
| Indiana | Jayden Seaton | University High School |
| Indiana | Bahar Djour | Westfield High School |
| Kansas | Creytin Sanner | Junction City High School |
| Kansas | Adiel Garcia II | Spring Hill High School |
| Kentucky | Caiden Thompson | Warren Central High Senior |
| Kentucky | David Daniel II | Owensboro High School |
| Louisiana | Joshua Blake | Lakeshore High School |
| Louisiana | Braylin Broussard | Lafayette High School |
| Massachusetts | Renby Fernald II | Middlesex School |
| Massachusetts | Edward Mukalazi | Andover High School |
| Maryland | Sangwoo Park | Northwest High School |
| Maryland | Jonah Woo | Marriotts Ridge High School |
| Maine | John McCormick | Cape Elizabeth High School |
| Maine | Matthew Ewy | Kennebunk High School |
| Michigan | Michael Bryant | Saline High School |
| Michigan | Lachlan Imfeld | Dexter High School |
| Minnesota | Jacob Bigalk | Rosemount High School |
| Minnesota | Davarius Wade | Park High School |
| Missouri | Andrew Puthumana | Rockhurst High School |
| Missouri | Aidan Heaney | Hermann High School |
| Mississippi | Jimmil Taylor | East Central High School |
| Mississippi | Hiram Eastland IV | Oxford High School |
| Montana | Rhenee Bandola | Judith Gap School |
| Montana | Scott Voigt | Gallatin High School |
| North Carolina | Tucker Coombs | Harnett Central High School |
| North Carolina | Jacob Evans | Cary High School |
| North Dakota | Alexander Ternes | Legacy High School |
| North Dakota | Patrick Shen | Davies High School |
| Nebraska | Nayan Vel | Millard North High School |
| Nebraska | Porter Nelson | Lincoln Southeast High School |
| New Hampshire | Akshay Manchanda | Manchester Central High School |
| New Hampshire | James Thibault | Winnisquam Regional High School |
| New Jersey | Dillon Dukes | Kingsway Regional High School |
| New Jersey | Christopher Gorman | Moorestown High School |
| New Mexico | Francisco Villa-Lopez | |
| New Mexico | Eric Rodriguez | Mora High School |
| Nevada | Ethan Nguyen | Example |
| Nevada | Matthew Martinez Valcher | Damonte Ranch High School |
| New York | Cole Bjornson | Susan E. Wagner High School |
| New York | Ian Chung | Vestal Senior High School |
| Ohio | Ronald Spears II | Theodore Roosevelt High School |
| Ohio | Ethan Young | Theodore Roosevelt High School |
| Oklahoma | Asher Patel | Holland Hall School |
| Oklahoma | Smith Langum | Bethany High School |
| Oregon | Langston Kaptur | Central Catholic High School |
| Oregon | Morgan Stutrud | Stayton High School |
| Pennsylvania | Arjun Ray | Groton School |
| Pennsylvania | Alex Chen | West Chester East High School |
| Rhode Island | Matthew Donahue | Mount Saint Charles Academy |
| Rhode Island | Aidan Simao | Coventry High School |
| South Carolina | Aidan Dong | Dreher High School |
| South Carolina | Braden Freeman | J.L. Mann High Academy |
| South Dakota | Max Altena | Lincoln High School |
| South Dakota | Austin Jenkins | Frederick Area School District |
| Tennessee | Mohib Ahmed | Maryville High School |
| Tennessee | Landon Bull | Seymour High School Senior |
| Texas | Venkata Yenuganti | Newman Smith High School |
| Texas | Rowen Hamilton | Smithson Valley High School |
| Utah | Colby Stone | Northern Utah Academy of Math Engineering and Science |
| Utah | Carsen Cooper | Desert Hills High School |
| Virginia | Palmer Van Zandt | James Monroe High School |
| Virginia | Clint Ellison | Benedictine College Preparatory |
| Vermont | Kallen Zborovsky-Fenster | Burr & Burton Academy |
| Vermont | Edward Fallis | Middlebury Union High School |
| Washington | John Culligan | Oak Harbor High School |
| Washington | Nadir El Yaddasse | Seoul Foreign School |
| Wisconsin | Ruben Mendes | Germantown High School |
| Wisconsin | Henry Pahlow | Denmark High School |
| West Virginia | Christian Arnold | Notre Dame High School |
| West Virginia | Samuel Dodson | Bridgeport High School |
| Wyoming | Jhett West | Sheridan High School |
| Wyoming | Caleb Greenlee | Cheyenne South High School |
Notable alumni
- David Barlow, United States Attorney, District of Utah
- Max Baucus, United States Ambassador and Senator, Montana
- Beau Biden, Attorney General of Delaware
- Tom Brokaw, Former NBC anchorman
- Steve Bullock, Governor of Montana
- Aneesh Chopra, United States Chief Technology Officer
- Chris Christie, Former Governor of New Jersey
- David Cicilline, United States Representative, Rhode Island
- Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States
- Tom Cotton, United States Senator, Arkansas
- Mitch Daniels, Former Governor of Indiana, Current President, Purdue University
- Lawrence DiCara, Attorney, Politician, former Boston City Council President
- H. Alston Johnson III, Former federal judicial nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- Michael Jordan, professional NBA player
- John Neely Kennedy, United States Senator, Louisiana
- Alan Keyes, politician
- Mike Lee, United States Senator, Utah
- Joe Lieberman, United States Senator, Connecticut and VP Candidate
- Donal Logue, film and television actor
- Gray H. Miller, U.S. District Court Judge
- Nate Morris, Entrepreneur
- Eric Motley, Former State Department Official
- Scott Murphy, United States Representative, New York
- Ben Sasse, United States Senator, Nebraska
- Jonathan Shapiro (writer), Emmy Award winning Producer/Writer
- Gaddi Vasquez, Former Director of the Peace Corps
- Scott Walker, 45th Governor of Wisconsin
See also
References
- Mark, Michelle. "White House photographers took thousands of photos during Trump's first year in office — here are the top 40". Business Insider. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
- "About Boys Nation | The American Legion". www.legion.org. Retrieved 2017-04-05.
- Goerger, Tammy. "A Guide to Boys and Girls State". College Vine. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
- "Hurricane student to represent West Virginia at Boys Nation". AP NEWS. 2021-11-28. Archived from the original on 2023-06-20. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
- "Bill Clinton and John F. Kennedy: The Story Behind Their 1963 Handshake". Biography. 2020-05-26. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
- Guild, Blair (July 26, 2017). "Trump praises his election as "a pretty amazing moment" in history". CBS News. ViacomCBS. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
- "As more women run for office, these teenagers represent the future of civic engagement". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
- "Boys Nation Legislation". American Legion. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
External links
- Boys Nation official website
- American Legion website