4/22/2024

Last week’s curation at RealClear’s American Civics portal starts off with Hans Zeiger’s appreciation for Jack Miller, the founder and now-chairman emeritus of the institution where Zeiger serves as president. At Philanthropy Daily, Zeiger writes that on the day Miller turned 95, he decided to step back from being chairman of JMC, the civics education organization he founded in 2004. “Over the 20 years that he chaired the center,” Zeiger notes, “Miller was not only an investor and a board leader but also a visionary and a relentless advocate for reform in American civic education from K-12 through college.” Miller, he adds, can give donors many lessons on how to be successful philanthropists. Looking at Miller’s example, Zeiger writes that donors should learn about a specific area, invest in long-term funding, unite with likeminded people and institutions, and invest in quality institutions and hold them accountable. “As we navigate the challenges ahead, let us heed Jack’s example,” Zeiger contends, “prioritizing informed investments, long-term vision, collaboration, and accountability to effect transformative change and uphold the values that define the American dream.”

At Time Magazine, historian Craig Bruce Smith, a member of the Jack Miller Center’s teaching network, reviews the new Apple TV series Franklin. Smith says that the “79-year-old Michael Douglas convincingly plays a septuagenarian Franklin and brings in some of the Franklin-esque humor” that’s lacking in other recent portrayals. Why should Americans watch this limited-run series? Smith argues that with “global conflict and competition increasing, alliances and diplomacy are more important than ever.” This means that we can "benefit from Franklin’s wisdom on national and international diplomacy and statesmanship.” Smith concludes by noting that all Americans should come to know more of the Franklin who was a serious statesman than the odd Franklin “who electrocuted a turkey.” Studying Franklin’s statesmanship, among that of the other luminaries of the founding generation, would help guide the U.S. in dealing with the looming, seemingly intractable situations we face today.