Rye Barcott
Rye Barcott is a Marine Corps veteran, social entrepreneur, and author of It Happened on the Way to War: A Marine’s Path to Peace. He is co-founder and CEO of With Honor, a cross-partisan organization that fights polarization by supporting principled veteran leadership in public office. While serving in the Marines, he co-founded CFK Africa, a locally led youth leadership and public health organization based in the Kibera slum of Nairobi, Kenya. He received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Dartmouth College.
COURAGE CAN SAVE US
From a U.S. Marine and co-founder of With Honor, and written ahead of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, comes the story of principled veterans who work across party lines to shape our nation and inspire us to serve with courage in our own lives.
* Mikie Sherrill * Todd Young *Mark Kelly * Brian Fitzpatrick * Wes Moore * Dan Crenshaw * Seth Moulton * John James * Don Bacon * Jared Golden *
When most Americans think of acts of courage, elected office is rarely the first place they look. And while more Americans than ever reject party labels, the political arena remains dominated by the loudest voices at each extreme. This moment demands leaders willing to govern across party lines, resist the incentives of modern politics, and choose courage over outrage.
One group is uniquely suited to meet that challenge: America's veterans. Courage Can Save US follows nine veterans and a former FBI agent-five Democrats and five Republicans-who have carried the ethic of service from the battlefield into public life. Ambitious and altruistic, forthright and flawed, they confront the moral and personal costs of leadership in an unsettled age: public attacks, private doubt, and the risk of losing everything they have worked for in service of the common good.
More than a collection of political profiles, Courage Can Save US is a portrait of a bipartisan generation of post-9/11 leaders striving to rise above polarization and a culture of contempt. It is an examination of courage in its many forms-and a challenge to all of us to consider how courage can strengthen our democracy, and our own lives.
Praise
“For much of the twentieth century, military service helped shape American leadership. Nearly two-thirds of our presidents wore the nation's uniform, and in the decades after World War II veterans held the majority of seats in Congress-an era when bipartisanship flourished. In Courage Can Save US, Rye Barcott shines a dramatic spotlight on ten veterans-men and women, Republicans and Democrats-now serving in elected office across the country. Forged in service and tested by sacrifice, their inspiring stories reveal how courage, character, and common purpose can still renew our democracy-and restore hope for its future.” ―Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author of Leadership in Turbulent Times
“Rye Barcott and I came of age as Marines in Iraq. We carry the costs of the post-9/11 wars and the questions they left behind about our country's character and what kind of leadership it demands. So do many of the ten Americans he profiles. He writes about these elected officials with candor, clarity, and hard-earned understanding. An important book for our generation-and for the country we still believe in.” ―Elliot Ackerman, National Book Award finalist and author of 2034 and Sheepdogs
“These are the times that buy men's souls. Thank God, some souls are not for sale. Politics has never been a refuge for the pure. Ambition, compromise, and pressure come with the territory. Yet the stories in this book remind us that even there-especially there-courage still emerges. In these tightly paced portraits, Rye Barcott shows how imperfect men and women who have worn the cloth of the nation choose service over self-interest at moments of consequence. A bracing and hopeful account of character in a divided chapter of our national life.” ―Karl Marlantes, author of Matterhorn and What It Is Like to Go to War
“Rye Barcott's spectacular book shares moving stories of military and public leaders who are role models in these challenging times. They teach us all how to be courageous-an essential quality that is lacking in many leaders.” ―Bill George, author of True North and former CEO of Medtronic
“Rye Barcott has written the book his country needs at this moment. I thought I knew about some of the public figures he portrays here. But page by page, Courage Can Save Us keeps delivering surprises—and encouragement, which makes good on the promise of its title. You’ll be glad to have read it." ― Jim Fallows, author of 11 books, recipient of the National Book Award
PRAISE FOR IT HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO WAR
“[The book] is detailed, vivid, earnest, and remarkable in rendering with equal intensity his interactions with poor children in Nairobi and his experiences at OCS or on patrol in Fallujah.” – James Fallows, The Atlantic
“It Happened On The Way To War is a heart-warming tale, told with both passion and candor. I think it should be required reading for two communities that are often hostile to each other: the NGO world and soldiers. Too often, NGO types see soldiers as thoughtless killers, and soldiers see the NGO community as pie-in-the-sky dreamers.” – Bobby Ghosh, Time Magazine
The New York Times Op-Ed piece: The Rugged Altruists, David Brooks, August 22, 2011
The New York Times: Nicholas Kristof's On The Ground blog: When It Comes to Helping Others, Just Do It, May 18, 2011
