Lonne Gilbert from Watertown-Mayer High School and 99 other incoming high school seniors represented states and the District of Columbia last month, July 19-26, at the 78th session of American Legion Boys Nation at Marymount University in Arlington, Va.
Each year, Boys Nation brings together 100 young men before their senior year of high school to learn from a hands-on approach how the U.S. Senate and the federal government functions. The American Legion Auxiliary sponsors similar programs with Girls State and Girls Nation.
Two “senators” from each program are selected to represent their state at Boys Nation, where the senators elect a president, vice president, and other offices.
The Watertown youth was chosen from among some 200 participants at Minnesota Boys State held earlier this summer at St. John’s University, where they learned about city, county and state levels of government, and represented “cities” in policy making and elections.
Boys Nation takes the experience up a notch where selected individuals participate at the federal level as “senators” taking a deep dive into issues like education, border concerns, technology scams and abortion, crafting and debating bills, and electing a president. Participants also spent about half their time on excursions of the Washington D.C. area, like the Capitol building, observed a session in Senate chambers – and even got to visit with their own senators, Gilbert explained.
Student senators also got to meet with Vice President Kamala Harris soon after President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race and she was getting endorsements as the new Democratic candidate.
Other highlights that Gilbert expressed were witnessing protests over the war in Gaza, and being in D.C. at the same time as NCAA championship teams were in town with invitations to the White House for their sports accomplishments, a presidential tradition that has been going on now for several years.
Gilbert called the experience “life changing” and said it has prompted him to reconsider his future field of college studies from business or economics to maybe international studies or public policy. He said it also opened his eyes to the political scene and “how important it is to participate in the process.”
The nearly 1.6-million-member American Legion, the nation’s largest veterans’ organization, conducts Boys Nation each year.
Prominent past Boys Nation graduates include former President Bill Clinton, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, and the late Sen. Joe Lieberman.
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