July 14, 2026

80th Boys Nation session begins Friday

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Boys Nation senators during the 2025 presidential and vice presidential debates. Photo by Jennifer Blohm/The American Legion
Boys Nation senators during the 2025 presidential and vice presidential debates. Photo by Jennifer Blohm/The American Legion

100 rising high school seniors from across the nation will visit the nation’s capital for a week that shapes a lifetime.

One hundred young men from across the nation will arrive in Washington, D.C., this week for “a week that shapes a lifetime.”

The 80th session of American Legion Boys Nation will take place July 17-24 at Marymount University in Arlington, Va. Follow the happenings at legion.org/boysnation and on social media with the hashtag #BoysNation2026.

During their week in and around the nation’s capital, the senators of Boys Nation, all soon to be high school seniors, will participate in the legislative process through a simulated senate while also visiting D.C. landmarks such as the National Mall, the Pentagon and the Supreme Court. They’ll also join their counterparts from American Legion Auxiliary Girls Nation in visiting elected officials from their respective states on Capitol Hill.

The senators of Boys Nation 2026:

Alabama: William Ellard and Will Burgess

Alaska: Luke Owens and Kyler Morgen

Arizona: Rohith Warrier and Vincent Wang

Arkansas: Kemdi Ekeanyanwu and Sawyer Ray

California: Hunter Freitas and Myles Gonzalez

Colorado: Logan Waggoner and Gokul Srinivasan

Connecticut: Andrew Roraback and Danny Bieszczad

Delaware: Duncan Wiley and Jack Thomas

District of Columbia: AJ Valbrune and Anthony See

Florida: Luke Brown and Riley Willis

Georgia: Brady Pace and Nathan Dsilva

Idaho: Noah Wigdahl and Aidan Marshall

Illinois: James Mannor and Charles Davis

Indiana: Carter Smith and Abdullah Chaudhry

Iowa: Anthony O’Connell and Alex Adair

Kansas: Alexis Zamora Reyes and Burklee Jackson

Kentucky: Gus Hatton and Drew Lush

Louisiana: Cole Wodke and Kaleb Law

Maine: Sawyer Durant and Carter Bennett

Maryland: Will Coughlan and Evan Xin

Massachusetts: Cole Gifford and Ryan McGuire

Michigan: Joe Emerson and Adam Saad

Minnesota: Carter Klein and Izu Ayika

Mississippi: Hugh Wilson and Vihaan Mahajan

Missouri: Tevonte Ammons and Tobi White

Montana: Boaz Sironi and Harrison Green

Nebraska: Lincoln Haussler and Quintin Lawson

Nevada: Dmitri Grimmett and Peter Maffey

New Hampshire: Andrew Downing and Milo Cocola

New Jersey: Kai Yang and Owen Ungaro

New Mexico: Clayton Wolfe and Jacob Malagon

New York: Finnegan Mullen and Trevor Fitzgerald

North Carolina: Krish Korrapati and James Greene

North Dakota: Tavin Woytassek and Cayle Corey

Ohio: Leo Mancha and Ryan Krivak

Oklahoma: Cameron Atwell and Arjun Deepak

Oregon: Finneus Bonk and Chase McMullen

Pennsylvania: Boden Moraski and Lincoln Laquidara

Rhode Island: Alex Hill and Mark Schoen Cruz

South Carolina: Joshua Begelman and Bennett Askew

South Dakota: Luke Swanson and Owen Kopfmann

Tennessee: Carter Howard and Charlie Russell

Texas: Willie Ray III and Colin Cordova

Utah: Owen Geddes and John Alley Jr.

Vermont: Ryan Walsh and Sam Martin

Virginia: Dylan Hancock and Bokre Samson

Washington: Nate Hamm and Joseph Hwang

West Virginia: Thomas Farrell and Amari Knights

Wisconsin: Andrew Schuler and Edwin Abili

Wyoming: Austin Vondra and Paxton Stevens

Boys Nation at 80. Revisit the history of Boys Nation with our series, originally published ahead of the milestone 75th session and revisited this summer:

·       The 2020s: still a week that shapes a lifetime

·       The 2010s: the stories they told

·       The 2000s: seize the opportunity

·       The 1990s: continuing to build the country’s leaders

·       The 1980s: a momentous decade and a new home

·       The 1970s: remembering the bicentennial celebration

·       The 1960s: ‘I wanted to spend my life being of service’

·       The 1950s: ‘Helpful to the country as a whole’

·       The 1940s: the creation of a Nation

 

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