Vice President JD Vance spoke to a sold-out crowd at the Nixon Library on Thursday, June 25. He was there to discuss his latest book, Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith. He was joined by Jim Byron, President and CEO of the Richard Nixon Foundation, for a conversation about the non-political memoir, which offers an intimate account of the Vice President’s faith journey. Ambassador Robert C. O’Brien, Chairman of the Richard Nixon Foundation Board of Directors, provided the introduction.

Before the program began, Vance had the opportunity to visit President Nixon’s birthplace and memorial site. He reflected to the audience on the 37th President’s epitaph, “The greatest honor history can bestow is the title of peacemaker,” and on how that spirit of peacemaking guides the foreign policy of the current administration. He also drew a parallel between Nixon and himself, noting that both men rose from humble beginnings to serve as Senator and Vice President and become best-selling authors, and spoke to the enduring promise of the American Dream. “I think that his historical legacy is enjoying a bit of a renaissance,” Vance said, “but I think deservedly so.”

With the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence just days away, the event’s final question asked how Vance was reflecting on America at this milestone. “I grew up in a world where everybody, every politician, was expected to have some basic gratitude for the United States of America,” he said. “When I think about 250 years of American history, what I think about is the entire greatness of this country was built by all of us together.”

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Special thanks to the following event sponsors:

PRESENTING SPONSORS

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