Staff Reports
Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch didn’t pick the quiet route when promoting his new children’s picture book, Heroes of 1776. In a string of interviews — including an edited clip on The Megyn Kelly Show — he urged young conservatives to read more history, practice moral courage, and stop confusing loudness with backbone. If you care about passing on a free and ordered society, his message is worth hearing, even if a Supreme Court justice talking books and character feels a little like your principal giving a pep talk at graduation.
Gorsuch’s Point: Courage, Not Cattiness
On the clip and in longer interviews with National Review and Reason, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch made a clear distinction: he wants young conservatives to have real courage — not the performative kind that shows up online with an all-caps megaphone. As he put it in the interviews, he’s “distressed” by gaps in civic knowledge and warns that courage is not “blind bullheadedness or rudeness.” That’s a useful correction. Too many on the right mistake volume for virtue. Gorsuch counsels study, patience, and a steady defense of principle — the old-fashioned sort that actually wins arguments over time.
Why Civic Education Matters
Gorsuch timed his book, coauthored with Janie Nitze and illustrated by Chris Ellison and published by HarperCollins, to the nation’s semiquincentennial for a reason: facts and stories shape character. National assessments and civic‑literacy surveys show American students lag on civics and U.S. history, with a low share reaching “proficient” levels. If you want citizens who defend liberty, you’ll need citizens who understand what liberty is and why it matters. That’s plain common sense, and Gorsuch is right to push kids toward the materials — and the manners — that build it.
A Sitting Justice on a Book Tour — And the Optics
Yes, a reminder: Associate Justice is a busy title, and the Supreme Court usually avoids the publicity circuit. Gorsuch’s multiple interviews are notable because sitting justices typically keep a lower profile on cultural debates. Critics will squawk about propriety; defenders will note the focus is civic education, not commentary on pending cases. Either way, the fact that a member of the Court is using his voice to push civic literacy shows how serious the problem looks to institutions that care about continuity and rule of law.
Practical Advice for Young Conservatives — And Everyone Else
Gorsuch’s tips are simple and doable: read primary texts and good history, learn the Constitution’s ideas, speak with courage but also with courtesy, and don’t trade substance for spectacle. Young conservatives who take that advice will be more persuasive and less likely to be caricatured as angry performancers. If conservatives want influence that lasts, build knowledge and character — and maybe buy the picture book for the next generation while you’re at it. The fight for ideas isn’t won by noise; it’s won by people who know what they believe and why.
