A pandemic, and other firsts, as Boys Nation reached 75 and beyond.
NOTE: This is the final story in our look at the history of American Legion Boys Nation in advance of this year’s 80th session.
The 75th session of American Legion Boys Nation was historic in more ways than simply celebrating a milestone.
Originally slated for 2020, the milestone session was postponed to the following year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And with some Boys State programs still cancelled in 2021 due to the lingering pandemic, other states were called upon to send four delegates to Washington, D.C., instead of the usual two, to ensure a full Boys Nation senate.
That also led to two of the four elected officials representing states other than their own. Alabama’s Cameron Cummings was elected vice president of Boys Nation 2021 while representing Michigan, while Massachusetts’ Eddy Gonet, representing Illinois, was elected president pro tempore.
“It’s definitely a different experience, but it’s worthwhile too because you have connections from Massachusetts and then connections from this new state. I think it can be beneficial and it’s definitely a learning experience, because I’m learning about other places in the country besides my own state,” Gonet said.
As we prepare for this summer’s 80th session of American Legion Boys Nation, we close out our look at the program’s history by revisiting the last five years.
Back on the Hill
Pandemic restrictions in 2021 meant that senators from Boys Nation and American Legion Auxiliary Girls Nation had to meet with their representatives on Capitol Hill in virtual fashion.
But they were back on Capitol Hill in 2022.
“I feel like the fact that senators are able to take time out of their day to meet with high school students like us truly demonstrates how caring they are, how much they believe in the future of American democracy,” Nebraska’s Vikram Menon said.
More firsts in 2023
The 2023 session of Boys Nation saw the program’s first president from Kentucky, as David Daniel defeated Alex Chen of Pennsylvania for the program’s top office.
Daniel’s election came a day after another Boys Nation first, as Gen. Mark Milley, the-then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited Marymount University to not only speak to the Boys Nation senators, but pose for photos and handshakes with the young men.
‘Experiences you won’t get anywhere else’
A global tech outage the day senators were to arrive for the 2024 session of Boys Nation meant plenty of travel issues and tweaks to the early schedule for the “week that shapes a lifetime.”
By the end, it wasn’t those travels but the visits to landmarks which many people don’t usually experience that the senators of the 78th Boys Nation would remember.
“You know how many signs we passed that said, ‘No tourists beyond this point’? The Pentagon … it’s just truly incredible. These are experiences you won’t get anywhere else because of the people you’re with,” said Maine’s Tristen Wing.
‘A brotherhood that spans the nation’
Among the highlights of the 2025 Boys Nation schedule was the opportunity for that year’s senators to meet with their counterparts from the Class of 2015.
“When we came here, we were young men with full heads of hair, lots of ambition and a drive to become, all of us, president of the United States,” 2015 alum Peter Hamilton said. “Some of those things may have changed for some of us, but one thing has stayed the same, and that is that the group of men we came with were men of three things. They were men of character, men of competence, and they were men of ambition.
“Every one of you who is here in this room today is here because you are at least one of those three things. And I’ll tell you this: That the first two things are much more important than the third thing.”
Boys Nation Assistant Director Corey Brooks said the alums reached out to Boys Nation staff to see about being a part of this year’s session as they celebrated their 10-year anniversary. The connection between every class of Boys Nation senators – and the opportunities that go with that – is something Brooks and his staff reinforce every year to each new class.
“We tell them every year that they’re joining a brotherhood that spans the nation and also goes back in time,” Brooks said. “That network provides opportunities for mentoring, opportunities to do internships, opportunities to get letters of recommendation, that first job, all sorts of things.
“This direct interaction – the ability to make new friends in areas that you’re interested – is phenomenal. I think we’ve struck gold here.”
Boys Nation Presidents, 2021-25:
2021: Ryan Jung, Irvine, Calif.
2022: Tamarus Darby Jr., Ann Arbor, Mich.
2023: David Daniel, Owensboro, Ky.
2024: Morgan Johnson, Wagoner, Okla.
2025: Luke Lawson, Headland, Ala.
- Boys Nation