essay about united states

United States

The United States of America is the world's third largest country in size and nearly the third largest in terms of population.

The United States of America is the world's third largest country in size and nearly the third largest in terms of population. Located in North America, the country is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. Along the northern border is Canada and the southern border is Mexico . There are 50 states and the District of Columbia .

More than twice the size of the European Union, the United States has high mountains in the West and a vast central plain. The lowest point in the country is in Death Valley which is at -282 feet (-86 meters) and the highest peak is Denali (Mt. McKinley) at 20,320 feet (6,198 meters).

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PEOPLE & CULTURE

Throughout its history, the United States has been a nation of immigrants. The population is diverse with people from all over the world seeking refuge and a better way of life.

The country is divided into six regions: New England, the mid-Atlantic, the South, the Midwest, the Southwest, and the West. European settlers came to New England in search of religious freedom. These states are Connecticut , Maine , Massachusetts , New Hampshire , Rhode Island , and Vermont .

The mid-Atlantic region includes Delaware , Maryland , New Jersey , New York , Pennsylvania , and the city of Washington, D.C. These industrial areas attracted millions of European immigrants and gave rise to some of the East Coast's largest cities: New York, Baltimore, and Philadelphia.

The South includes Alabama , Arkansas , Florida , Georgia , Kentucky , Louisiana , Mississippi , North Carolina , South Carolina , Tennessee , Virginia , and West Virginia , all of which struggled after the Civil War, which lasted from 1860-1865.

The Midwest is home to the country's agricultural base and is called the "nation's breadbasket." The region comprises the states of Illinois , Indiana , Iowa , Kansas , Michigan , Minnesota , Missouri , Nebraska , North Dakota , Ohio , South Dakota , and Wisconsin .

The Southwest is a beautiful stark landscape of prairie and desert. The states of Arizona , New Mexico , Oklahoma , and Texas are considered the Southwest and are home to some of the world's great natural marvels, including the Grand Canyon and Carlsbad Caverns.

The American West, home of rolling plains and the cowboy, is a symbol of the pioneering spirit of the United States. The West is diverse, ranging from endless wilderness to barren desert, coral reefs to Arctic tundra, Hollywood to Yellowstone . The states of the West include Alaska , Colorado , California , Hawaii , Idaho , Montana , Nevada , Oregon , Utah , Washington , and Wyoming .

The landscape varies across the large country from tropical beaches in Florida to peaks in the Rocky Mountains, from rolling prairie lands and barren deserts in the West to dense wilderness areas in the Northeast and Northwest. Interspersed throughout are the Great Lakes, the Grand Canyon, the majestic Yosemite Valley, and the mighty Mississippi River.

The wildlife is as diverse as the landscape. Mammals such as bison once roamed freely across the plains, but now live only in preserves. Black bears , grizzlies , and polar bears are the largest carnivores. There are over 20,000 flower species and most came from Europe. There are more than 400 areas which are protected and maintained by the National Park Service, and many other parks in each state.

The bald eagle is the national bird and symbol of the United States and is a protected species.

GOVERNMENT & ECONOMY

Citizens over the age of 18 years old vote to elect the President and Vice President of United States every four years. The president lives in the White House in the capital city of Washington, D.C.

There are two houses of Congress: the Senate and the House of Representatives. There are 100 senators, two from each of the 50 states and each serves a six-year term. There are 435 representatives who must be elected every two years.

The Supreme Court is made up of nine justices who are picked by the president and must be approved by Congress.

For the first time in the nation's history an African American, Barack Obama , was elected President of the United States in 2008. He was reelected for a second term in 2012.

Advances in the past hundred years have established America as a world leader economically, militarily, and technologically. America has the largest coal reserves in the world.

For centuries  native peoples lived across the vast expanse that would become the United States. Starting in the 16th century, settlers moved from Europe to the New World, established colonies, and displaced these native peoples.

Explorers arrived from  Spain in 1565 at St. Augustine,  Florida , and the British landed in 1587 to establish a colony in Roanoke, in present-day  Virginia . In 1606 another British colony was established in what would become Jamestown, Virginia. From there, the  French founded Quebec in 1608, then the  Dutch started a colony in 1609 in present-day  New York . Europeans continued to settle in the New World in ever-increasing numbers throughout the next couple of centuries.

Conflict with the Native Americans

While Native Americans resisted European efforts to gain land and power, they were often outnumbered and didn’t have as powerful of weapons. The settlers also brought diseases that the native peoples had not faced before, and these illnesses sometimes had horrible effects. A 1616 epidemic killed an estimated 75 percent of the Native Americans in the New England region of North America.

During this time, fights between the settlers and Native Americans erupted often, particularly as more people claimed land where the Native Americans lived. The U.S. government signed nearly 400 peace treaties between the mid-18th century and the mid-19th century to try to show they wanted peace with the Indigenous tribes. But the government did not honor most of these treaties, and even sent military units to forcibly remove Native Americans from their lands.

For example, in 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, which granted land west of the  Mississippi River to Native American tribes who agreed to give up their lands. But this broke with other treaties he had signed with  Native American tribes in the Southeast . The removal was supposed to be voluntary, but Jackson used legal and military action to remove several tribes from their homelands and ended nearly 70 treaties during his presidency.

By the mid-19th century, most Native American tribes had been wiped out or moved to live on much smaller portions of land in the Midwest.

Declaring Independence

In 1776, colonists living in the New England area of the New World drafted the Declaration of Independence, a document that stated that the American colonies were tired of being ruled by Great Britain (now called the  United Kingdom ).  The settlers fought for—and won—their independence and formed a union of states based on a new  constitution . But despite stating that “all men are created equal” in the Declaration of Independence, the new country was home to millions of enslaved people.

Slavery in the United States

Enslaved Africans were brought to North America by boat as early as 1619. The trans-Atlantic slave trade saw more than 12.5 million people kidnapped from Africa and sold at ports throughout the Americas over the next couple of centuries.

By 1860, nearly four million enslaved people lived in the country. Most worked in the South, where their free labor allowed the sugar, cotton, and tobacco industries to flourish. Enslaved people even built the White House and the U.S. Capitol.

When  Abraham Lincoln became president in 1861, the nation had been arguing for more than a hundred years about enslaving people and each  state’s right to allow it. Lincoln wanted to end slavery. Many people in the northern states agreed with him; some people in the southern states, however, relied on enslaved people to farm their crops and did not want slavery to end. Eventually, 11 southern states formed the Confederate States of America to oppose the 23 northern states that remained in the Union. The Civil War began on April 12, 1861.

The Civil War was fought between abolitionists, or people who wanted to end slavery, and the pro-slavery Confederacy. Enslaved people weren’t freed until Lincoln delivered his famous Emancipation Proclamation speech in 1863, midway through the war. Two years later, the Civil War ended with a Union victory.

That same year, the passage of the 13th Amendment officially abolished the practice of slavery and ended nearly 250 years of slavery in the country. But it did not end racism. Former enslaved people—as well as their descendants— struggled with discrimination , and African American heroes today are still fighting for equality.

Progress (and Wars) in the 20th Century

After the Civil War, the United States  continued to expand westward until 1890, when the U.S. government declared the West fully explored. During this time of expansion, the population grew from about five million people in 1800 to nearly 80 million people in 1900.

The early 1900s were a time of progress in the United States. This in part was because of the number of immigrants coming to the country looking for opportunity. Between 1900 and 1915, 15 million immigrants arrived in the United States from countries such as Italy, Russia, and Poland. The new citizens worked in places such as gold mines and garment factories, and helped construct railroads and canals. These immigrants brought new ideas and culture to the young country.

The 20th century was also a time of industrial advancement. The development of the automobile and the  airplane lead to an increase in factory jobs and marked a shift in more people moving to live and work in big cities instead of farming in small towns.

But there were tough times, too. The United States fought alongside Great Britain, France,  Russia ,  Italy , Romania, and  Japan against  Germany , Austria- Hungary , Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire (now the country of  Turkey ) in World War I, before the country suffered through what became known as the Great Depression, a time of economic crisis during the 1930s.

In the 1940s, then-president  Franklin Delano Roosevelt steered the country out of the Depression before  leading the country during the Second World War , alongside allies France, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union (now Russia), against Germany, Italy, and Japan.

The United States’ reputation as a progressive country took hold after the two World Wars and the Great Depression. The ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s were a time of innovation in the nation. In 1958, NASA—the National Aeronautics and Space Administration—started exploring the possibility of space flight. By 1969, the agency landed the first human on the moon .

Throughout these three decades, the fight for civil rights in the country continued with Americans of all backgrounds fighting for equal rights for their fellow citizens. Civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr .’s “I Have a Dream” speech is perhaps the most famous speech associated with the civil rights movement. Historic firsts for people of color during these decades include Dalip Singh Saund becoming the first Asian American elected to the Congress in 1957; Thurgood Marshall becomingthe first African American justice to serve on the Supreme Court in 1967; and Shirley Chisholm becoming the first African American female elected to Congress in 1968.

The late 1900s saw the U.S. government get involved in several wars on different fronts, including the Vietnam War, a war between what was then the two separate countries of North and South Vietnam, in which the United States sided with South Vietnam; the Cold War, a long period of non-violent tensions between the United States and the former Soviet Union, now Russia; and the Gulf War, a war waged by 30-plus nations lead by the United States against the country of Iraq .

An Attack on America

Although the country was still a relatively young nation at the beginning of the 21st century, the United States had established itself as a global power. Some people saw this power as a threat.

On September 11, 2001 , 19 terrorists who disagreed with the United States’ involvement in world affairs hijacked four planes. Two of the planes were flown into the two 110-story skyscrapers that made up New York City’s World Trade Center. Another crashed into the Pentagon outside of Washington, D.C. The fourth plane went down in a Pennsylvania field. Nearly 3,000 people died that day.

Then-president George W. Bush sent troops to  Afghanistan after the events of 9/11. He hoped to capture those responsible for the attacks, including al Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. Bush also sent troops to Iraq in 2003, after rumors started that the country was hiding dangerous weapons that the president wanted to find and destroy.

While bin Laden was eventually located and killed in 2011, the United States is still fighting what’s called “the war on terrorism” today.

Historic Firsts—Plus, a Pandemic

The 21st century marked more progress for the United States, particularly at its highest levels of government. In 2008,  Barack Obama became the first African American to be elected president of the United States. In 2020, Kamala Harris became the first Black and Indian American person and the first woman elected vice president.

The early 2000s also saw the elections of  Donald Trump , the first U.S. president to be impeached twice, in 2016; and  Joe Biden , the oldest person to be elected president, in 2020. The United States—along with the rest of the world—also endured the  coronavirus pandemic that began in 2020.

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An American Empire? An Essay on the United States as Global Power

William Anthony Hay is a fellow with the Foreign Policy Research Institute and an assistant professor of history at Mississippi State University, Starkville, Miss.

25 Essay Topics for American Government Classes

Writing Ideas That Will Make Students Think

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If you are a teacher searching for essay topics to assign to your U.S. government or civics class or looking for ideas, do not fret. It is easy to integrate debates and discussions into the classroom environment. These topic suggestions provide a wealth of ideas for written assignments such as  position papers , compare-and-contrast essays , and  argumentative essays . Scan the following 25 question topics and ideas to find just the right one. You'll soon be reading interesting papers from your students after they grapple with these challenging and important issues.

• Compare and contrast what is a direct democracy versus representative democracy. 
• React to the following statement: Democratic decision-making should be extended to all areas of life including schools, the workplace, and the government. 
• Compare and contrast the Virginia and New Jersey plans. Explain how these led to the Great Compromise .
• Pick one thing about the U.S. Constitution including its amendments that you think should be changed. What modifications would you make? Explain your reasons for making this change.
• What did Thomas Jefferson mean when he said, "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants?" Do you think that this statement still applies to today's world? 
• Compare and contrast mandates and conditions of aid regarding the federal government's relationship with states. For example, how has the Federal Emergency Management Agency delivered support to states and commonwealths that have experienced natural disasters?
• Should individual states have more or less power compared to the federal government when implementing laws dealing with topics such as the legalization of marijuana  and abortion ? 
• Outline a program that would get more people to vote in presidential elections or local elections.
• What are the dangers of gerrymandering when it comes to voting and presidential elections?
• Compare and contrast the major political parties in the United States. What policies are they preparing for upcoming elections?
• Why would voters choose to vote for a third party, even though they know that their candidate has virtually no chance of winning? 
• Describe the major sources of money that are donated to political campaigns. Check out the Federal Election Regulatory Commission's website for information.
• Should corporations be treated as individuals regarding being allowed to donate to political campaigns?  Look at the 2010 Citizens United v. FEC ruling on the issue. Defend your answer. 
• Explain the role of social media in connecting interest groups that have grown stronger as the major political parties have grown weaker. 
• Explain why the media has been called the fourth branch of government. Include your opinion on whether this is an accurate portrayal.
• Compare and contrast the campaigns of U.S. Senate and House of Representatives candidates.
• Should term limits be instituted for members of Congress? Explain your answer.
• Should members of Congress vote their conscience or follow the will of the people who elected them into office? Explain your answer.
• Explain how executive orders have been used by presidents throughout the history of the U.S. What is the number of executive orders issued by the current president?
• In your opinion, which of the three branches of the federal government has the most power? Defend your answer.
• Which of the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment do you consider the most important? Explain your answer. 
• Should a school be required to get a warrant before searching a student's property? Defend your answer. 
• Why did the Equal Rights Amendment fail? What kind of campaign could be run to see it passed?
• Explain how the 14th Amendment has affected civil liberties in the United States from the time of its passage at the end of the Civil War.
• Do you think that the federal government has enough, too much or just the right amount of power? Defend your answer.
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US College Essay Tips for International Students

Published on September 21, 2021 by Kirsten Courault . Revised on December 8, 2023.

Beyond your test scores and grades, the college essay is your opportunity to express your academic and personal character, writing skills, and ability to self-reflect.

You should use your unique culture and individual perspective to write a compelling essay with specific stories, a conversational tone, and correct grammar. Here are some basic guidelines on how to write a memorable college essay as an international student.

Table of contents

Research: how applying to us colleges is different, stories: show your strengths, tone: be conversational, but respectful, culture: write about what you know, language: use correct grammar, word choices, and sentence structures, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about college application essays.

The US college experience offers not only academic growth, but also campus community. While admissions officers use your grades and test scores as a baseline, they also use the college essay to further evaluate if you can add value to the academic community, student body, and campus culture.

The college essay, or personal statement, is a creative, personal piece of writing in its own genre. Rather than providing a broad overview of your life, personal essays are often centered around a specific narrative or theme.

The college essay may be the deciding factor in a student’s application, especially for competitive schools where most applicants have exceptional grades, test scores, and extracurriculars. Many students spend weeks一even months一brainstorming, workshopping, writing, and revising their essays to produce an original, compelling story.

Before starting your essay, you should take time to brainstorm topics and research your desired schools’ academic programs and campus cultures. Then, you can start outlining why you’re a good fit for a particular university.

Some colleges also require supplemental essays (e.g. diversity essays , “Why this college?” essays ), which must be submitted along with the college application. Scholarship essays are also worth writing, as many students overlook this opportunity. Research deadlines early, and create a college application timeline and checklist . Or check out our guide to writing fast if you’re running low on time.

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Just being an international student isn’t enough to be competitive in a pool of both US and international applicants. To write a memorable essay, share specific stories that illustrate your strengths not only as an international student, but also as an individual within your culture. You should add details about your life that aren’t apparent in your application.

In South Korea, school is war. Similar to Battle Royale , students viciously compete, not for their life, but for their futures. From 6 a.m. to 1 a.m., I study either in school, an after-school academy, or my room. With no time to spare, I eat my meals over my textbooks while memorizing chemical compounds or geometry theorems. My bathroom breaks are like short breaths before I dive back underwater into the vast sea of knowledge that I must conquer before it drowns me. Among this chaos, I find solace twice a week with my online English tutor, Catherine. Her stories of college in Boston help me to imagine a reality where classmates can be collaborators, not competitors. Rather than memorization drills and one-sided lectures, I imagine a lively discussion between pupil and professor. As we converse in English about my future dreams, I get a taste of what it’s like to be not a prisoner to knowledge, but a friend.

American student-teacher relationships are much less formal than those in many other countries. US universities value student-professor discussion, debate, and collaboration.

Similarly, college application essays are less formal than other kinds of academic writing. You should use a conversational yet respectful tone, as if speaking with a teacher or mentor. Be honest about your feelings, thoughts, and experiences to connect with the admissions officer. To improve the tone of your essay you can use a paraphrasing tool .

• Firstly, I would like to elaborate on how my family moved from Xizhou to Beijing.
• When I was just five, my family and I left behind our tranquil village in southwest China to make a new home in the vast, bustling capital of Beijing.

As an international student, you have a wealth of culture that you can share with admissions officers. Instead of potentially using American idioms and cultural references awkwardly, write in detail about yourself within your own culture.

Make sure to explain any words, customs, or places that an American admissions officer might not be familiar with. Provide context to help your reader understand the significance of what you’re writing about.

While drowsiness still clouds my thoughts and vision, I trudge over to the bathroom to wash before Fajr , the Islamic dawn prayer. While my mouth still reeks of last night’s kabsa , a Saudi dish of rice and meat, my older sister prances out of the bathroom with sleek, long hair, flawless makeup, and a TikTok-ready outfit. While softly humming BTS’s “DNA,” she picks up a comb and begins to skillfully tackle the labyrinth that has taken over my head. Twenty minutes later, she manages to tame my wild, frizzy mane into an elegant French braid. Sara always knows how to make beauty out of chaos.

Admissions officers don’t expect your English writing skills to be perfect, but your essay should demonstrate a strong command of grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structures. Remember to use US English rather than UK English .

Choose your words carefully. You can be creative in your word choice, but don’t use elaborate vocabulary to impress admissions officers; focus on language that you know well so that your writing sounds natural and genuine. Prioritize simple sentence structures for clarity.

If English is not your first language, it’s a good idea to have a native speaker check your essay. You can also use our essay checker .

If you want 100% accuracy, you may want to consider working with a qualified editor or essay coach who can check your grammar, tone, cultural references, and content. Scribbr’s college essay editors can help.

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If you want to know more about academic writing , effective communication , or parts of speech , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

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Admissions officers use college admissions essays to evaluate your character, writing skills , and ability to self-reflect . The essay is your chance to show what you will add to the academic community.

The college essay may be the deciding factor in your application , especially for competitive schools where most applicants have exceptional grades, test scores, and extracurriculars.

Some colleges also require supplemental essays about specific topics, such as why you chose that specific college . Scholarship essays are often required to obtain financial aid .

College application essays are less formal than other kinds of academic writing . Use a conversational yet respectful tone , as if speaking with a teacher or mentor. Be vulnerable about your feelings, thoughts, and experiences to connect with the reader.

Aim to write in your authentic voice , with a style that sounds natural and genuine. You can be creative with your word choice, but don’t use elaborate vocabulary to impress admissions officers.

If you’re an international student applying to a US college and you’re comfortable using American idioms or cultural references , you can. But instead of potentially using them incorrectly, don’t be afraid to write in detail about yourself within your own culture.

Provide context for any words, customs, or places that an American admissions officer might be unfamiliar with.

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United States Institute of Peace

National high school essay contest.

USIP partners with the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) on the annual National High School Essay Contest. The contest each year engages high school students in learning and writing about issues of peace and conflict, encouraging appreciation for diplomacy’s role in building partnerships that can advance peacebuilding and protect national security. 

The winner of the contest receives a $2,500 cash prize, an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. to meet U.S. Department of State and USIP leadership, and a full-tuition paid voyage with Semester at Sea upon the student’s enrollment at an accredited university. The runner-up receives a $1,250 cash prize and a full scholarship to participate in the International Diplomacy Program of the National Student Leadership Conference. 

2023 National High School Essay Contest

The American Foreign Service Association’s national high school essay contest completed its twenty-third year with over 400 submissions from 44 states. Three randomized rounds of judging produced this year’s winner, Justin Ahn, a junior from Deerfield Academy in Deerfield, Massachusetts. In his essay, “Mending Bridges: U.S.-Vietnam Reconciliation from 1995 to Today,” Ahn focuses on the successful reconciliation efforts by the Foreign Service in transforming U.S.-Vietnam relations from post-war tension to close economic and strategic partnership.

Ahn will travel to Washington, D.C. to meet with a member of the Department of State’s leadership and receive a full tuition scholarship to an educational voyage with Semester at Sea.

Niccolo Duina was this year’s runner-up. He is currently a junior at Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, Arkansas. Duina will be attending the international diplomacy program of the National Student Leadership Conference this summer.

There were eight honorable mentions:

• Santiago Castro-Luna – Chevy Chase, Maryland
• Dante Chittenden – Grimes, Iowa 
• Merle Hezel – Denver, Colorado
• Adarsh Khullar – Villa Hills, Kentucky
• Nicholas Nall – Little Rock, Arkansas
• Ashwin Telang – West Windsor, New Jersey
• Himani Yarlagadda – Northville, Michigan 
• Sophia Zhang – San Jose, California

Congratulations! We thank all students and teachers who took the time to research and become globally engaged citizens who care about diplomacy, development and peacebuilding.

2023 National High School Essay Contest Topic

In 2024, the U.S. Foreign Service will celebrate its 100th birthday. The Foreign Service is an important element of the American approach to peacebuilding around the world. Over the last century, U.S. diplomats have been involved in some of the most significant events in history — making decisions on war and peace, responding to natural disasters and pandemics, facilitating major treaties, and more.

As AFSA looks back on their century-long history, we invite you to do the same. This year, students are asked to explore a topic that touches upon this important history and sheds light on how vital it is for America to have a robust professional corps focused on diplomacy, development and peace in the national interest.

In your essay, you will select a country or region in which the U.S. Foreign Service has been involved in at any point since 1924 and describe — in 1,500 words or less — how the Foreign Service was successful or unsuccessful in advancing American foreign policy goals, including promoting peace, in this country/region and propose ways in which it might continue to improve those goals in the coming years.

Contest deadline: April 3, 2023

Download the study guide for the 2023 National High School Essay Contest. This study guide provides students with a basic introduction to the topic and some additional context that can assist them in answering the question. It includes the essay question, prizes and rules for the contest; an introduction to diplomacy and peacebuilding; key terms; topics and areas students might explore; and a list of other useful resources.

Learn more about the contest rules and how to submit your essay on the American Foreign Service Association’s contest webpage .

2022 National High School Essay Contest

Katherine Lam, a freshman from University High School in Tucson, Arizona, is the 2022 National High School Essay Contest winner. In her essay, “Competition and Coaction in Ethiopia: U.S. and Chinese Partnerships for International Stabilization,” Lam focuses on how the Foreign Service has partnered with other U.S. government agencies, nongovernmental organizations and — most notably — China to promote peace and development in Ethiopia. Lam will travel to Washington, D.C., to meet with a member of the U.S. Department of State’s leadership and gain full tuition for an educational voyage with Semester at Sea.

Olivia Paulsen was this year’s runner-up. She is a currently a junior receiving a home-schooled education in Concord, Massachusetts. Paulsen will be attending the international diplomacy program of the National Student Leadership Conference this summer.

The 2022 honorable mentions were: Josh Diaz (Little Rock, AR); Grace Hartman (Bethlehem, PA); Elena Higuchi (Irvine, CA); Ovea Kaushik (Oklahoma City, OK); Evan Lindemann (Palm Desert, CA); Percival Liu (Tokyo, Japan); Alexander Richter (San Jose, CA); and Gavin Sun (Woodbury, MN).

USIP congratulates all the winners of the 2022 National High School Essay Contest.

Partnerships for Peace in a Multipolar Era

The current multipolar era poses challenges for U.S. foreign policy but also provides new opportunities for partnership across world powers—including emerging great powers like China and Russia—to build peace in conflict-affected countries. Describe a current situation where American diplomats and peacebuilders are working with other world powers, as well as local and/or regional actors, in a conflict-affected country to champion democracy, promote human rights, and/or resolve violent conflict.    A successful essay will lay out the strategies and tactics U.S. Foreign Service Officers and American peacebuilders are employing to build successful partnerships with other world and regional powers and with local actors in the chosen current situation.  The essay will also describe specific ways that these partnerships are helping to promote stability and build peace.

Contest deadline: April 4, 2022

Download the study guide for the 2022 National High School Essay Contest. This study guide provides students with a basic introduction to the topic and some additional context that can assist them in answering the question. It includes the essay question, prizes, and rules for the contest; an introduction to diplomacy and peacebuilding; key terms; topics and areas students might explore; and a list of other useful resources.

Learn more about the contest rules and how to submit your essay on the American Foreign Service Association’s contest webpage.  

2021 National High School Essay Contest

Mariam Parray, a sophomore from Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, Arkansas, is the 2021 National High School Essay Contest winner. In her essay, “Diplomats and Peacebuilders in Tunisia: Paving the Path to Democracy,” Ms. Parray focuses on how the Foreign Service partnered with other U.S. government agencies and NGOs to effect a peaceful democratic transition in Tunisia. She emphasizes the importance of multifaceted approaches as well as the importance of bringing marginalized groups into the fold. Mariam will travel to Washington to meet with a member of the Department of State’s leadership and will also gain a full tuition to an educational voyage with Semester at Sea. Harrison McCarty was this year’s runner-up. Coincidentally, he is also a sophomore from Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, Arkansas. Harrison will be attending the international diplomacy program of the National Student Leadership Conference this summer. The 2021 honorable mentions were: Louisa Eaton (Wellesley, MA); Samuel Goldston (Brooklyn, NY); Lucy King (Bainbridge Island, WA); Haan Jun Lee (Jakarta, Indonesia); Khaled Maalouf (Beirut, Lebanon); Madeleine Shaw (Bloomington, IN); Allison Srp (Austin, MN); and Daniel Zhang (Cortland, NY).

USIP congratulates all the winners of the 2021 National High School Essay Contest. 

Diplomats and Peacebuilders: Powerful Partners

What characteristics lead to a successful effort by diplomats and peacebuilders to mediate or prevent violent conflict? The United States Foreign Service—often referred to as America’s first line of defense—works to prevent conflict from breaking out abroad and threats from coming to our shores. Peacebuilders work on the ground to create the conditions for peace and resolve conflicts where they are most needed. 

Successful essays will identify, in no more than 1,250 words, a situation where diplomats worked on a peacebuilding initiative with partners from the country/region in question, nongovernmental organizations, and other parts of the U.S. government, and then go on to analyze what characteristics and approaches made the enterprise a success.  

Contest deadline: April 5, 2021

Download the study guide for the 2021 National High School Essay Contest. This study guide provides students with a basic introduction to the topic and some additional context that can assist them in answering the question. It includes key terms in conflict management and peacebuilding and examples of peacebuilding initiatives, with reflection questions for independent learners to dig more deeply or for teachers to encourage class reflection and discussion. We hope this study guide will be a useful resource for educators and students participating in this contest, and for educators who want their students to learn more about this year’s contest topic.

2020 National High School Essay Contest

Jonas Lorincz, a junior from Marriotts Ridge High School in Marriottsville, MD, is the 2020 National High School Essay Contest winner. In his essay, “Verification, Mediation, and Peacebuilding: The Many Roles of the U.S. Foreign Service in Kosovo,” Mr. Lorincz focused on the importance of interagency cooperation in mediating the crisis in Kosovo – primarily looking into how diplomats and other civilian agencies engaged in peacebuilding throughout the conflict.

Claire Burke was this year’s runner-up. She is a junior at Mill Valley High School in Shawnee, KS. 

The 2020 honorable mentions were: Grace Cifuentes (Concord, CA), Grace Lannigan (Easton, CT), Seryung Park (Tenafly, NJ), Vynateya Purimetla (Troy, MI), David Richman (Norfolk, VA), Madeleine Shaw (Bloomington, IN), Sara Smith (Fargo, ND), and Jack Viscuso (Northport, NY).  USIP congratulates all the winners of the 2020 National High School Essay Contest. 

2020 National High School Essay Contest Topic

Why Diplomacy and Peacebuilding Matter

How do members of the Foreign Service work with other civilian parts of the U.S. Government to promote peace, national security and economic prosperity?

Qualified essays focused on a specific challenge to U.S. peace and prosperity and included one example of the work of the Foreign Service and one or more examples of collaboration between America’s diplomats and other civilian (i.e. non-military) U.S. Government agencies or organizations.

2019 National High School Essay Contest

In its 21st year, the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA)’s National High School Essay Contest encouraged students to think about how and why the United States engages globally to build peace, and about the role that the Foreign Service plays in advancing U.S. national security and economic prosperity.

For the second year in a row, the National High School Essay Contest focused on an important aspect of operating in countries affected by or vulnerable to violent conflict: effective coordination of the many different foreign policy tools the United States has at its disposal. Whether you were addressing the prompt for a second year or new to the contest, the contest will have challenged you to expand your understanding of the role of the Foreign Service and other actors in foreign policy, identify case studies, and provide a sophisticated analysis in a concise manner.

The essay prompt and a helpful study guide are included below; you can find out more information about the rules and how to submit by checking out AFSA’s essay contest page .

2019 Essay Question

The United States has many tools to advance and defend its foreign policy and national security interests around the world—from diplomatic approaches pursued by members of the Foreign Service, to the range of options available to the U.S. military. In countries affected by or vulnerable to violent conflict, peacebuilding tools are important additions to the national security toolkit.

In such complex environments, cooperation across agencies and approaches is challenging, but it can also blend knowledge and skills in ways that strengthen the overall effort to establish a lasting peace. On the other hand, lack of coordination can lead to duplication of effort, inefficient use of limited resources and unintended consequences.

In a 1,000-1,250-word essay, identify two cases—one you deem successful and one you deem unsuccessful—where the U.S. pursued an integrated approach to build peace in a conflict-affected country. Analyze and compare these two cases, addressing the following questions:

• What relative strengths did members of the Foreign Service and military actors bring to the table? What peacebuilding tools were employed? Ultimately, what worked or did not work in each case?
• How was each situation relevant to U.S. national security interests?
• What lessons may be drawn from these experiences for the pursuit of U.S. foreign policy more broadly?

Download the study guide for the 2019 AFSA National High School Essay Contest

2018 National High School Essay Contest

Jennifer John from Redwood City, CA is the 2018 National High School Essay Contest winner, surpassing close to 1,000 other submissions. Her essay examined to what extent U.S. interagency efforts in Iraq and Bosnia were successful in building peace. Aislinn Niimi from Matthews, NC was the runner up.

The 2018 honorable mentions were: Alex, DiCenso (North Kingstown, RI),Alexandra Soo (Franklin, MI), Caroline Bellamy (Little Rock AR), Colin LeFerve (Indianapolis, IN), Elizabeth Kam (Burlingham, CA), Emma Singh (Tenafly NJ), Emma Chambers (Little Rock AR),  Francesca Ciampa (Brooksville, ME), Greta Bunce (Franktown, VA), Isaac Che (Mount Vernon OH), Isabel Davis (Elk River MN), Katrina Espinoza (Watsonvile, CA), Molly Ehrig (Bethlehem, PA), Payton McGoldrick (Bristow, VA), Rachel Russell (Cabin John, MD), Sarah Chapman (Tucson, AZ), Shalia Lothe (Glen Allen VA), Sohun Modha (San Jose CA), Suhan Kacholia (Chandler, AZ), Supriya Sharma (Brewster, NY), Sydney Adams (Fort Wayne, IN), Tatum Smith (Little Rock AR), and William Milne (Fort Wayne, IN).  

2017 National High School Essay Contest

Nicholas Deparle, winner of the 2017 AFSA National High School Essay Contest, comes from Sidwell Friends School in Washington DC. A rising senior at the time, Mr. Deparle covers the Internally Displaced Persons crisis in Iraq and potential ideas to help resolve the issue.  Read his winning essay here . Mr. Manuel Feigl, a graduate of Brashier Middle College Charter High School in Simpsonville, SC took second place.

This year there were twenty honorable mentions: Mohammed Abuelem ( Little Rock, Ark.), Lucas Aguayo-Garber (Worcester, Mass.), Rahul Ajmera (East Williston, N.Y.), Taylor Gregory (Lolo, Mont.), Rachel Hildebrand (Sunnyvale, Calif.), Ryan Hulbert (Midland Park, N.J.), India Kirssin (Mason, Ohio), Vaibhav Mangipudy (Plainsboro, N.J.), William Marsh (Pittsburgh, Penn.), Zahra Nasser (Chicago, Ill.), Elizabeth Nemec (Milford, N.J.), David Oks (Ardsley, N.Y.), Max Pumilia (Greenwood Village, Colo.), Nikhil Ramaswamy (Plano, Texas), Aditya Sivakumar (Beaverton, Ore.), Donovan Stuard (Bethlehem, Penn.), Rachel Tanczos (Danielsville, Penn.), Isabel Ting (San Ramon, Calif.), Kimberley Tran (Clayton, Mo.), and Chenwei Wang (Walnut, Calif.).

2017 Essay Contest Topic

According to the United Nations, 65 million people worldwide have left their homes to seek safety elsewhere due to violence, conflict, persecution, or human rights violations. The majority of these people are refugees or internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Imagine you are a member of the U.S. Foreign Service —– a diplomat working to promote peace, support prosperity, and protect American citizens while advancing the interests of the United States abroad – and are now assigned to the U.S. embassy in one of these four countries.

• Turkey (Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs)
• Kenya (Bureau of African Affairs)
• Afghanistan (Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs)
• Iraq (Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs)

Your task is to provide recommendations to address the refugee/IDP crisis facing the country in which you are now posted. Using the resources available to you as a member of the Foreign Service, write a memo to your Ambassador outlining how the United States might help address the current unprecedented levels of displacement. You may choose to address issues related to the causes of refugee crisis, or to focus on the humanitarian crisis in your host country.

A qualifying memo will be 1,000-1,250 words and will answer the following questions:

• How does the crisis challenge U.S. interests in the country you are posted and more broadly?
• Specifically outline the steps you propose the U.S. should take to tackle the roots or the consequences of the crisis, and explain how it would help solve the issue or issues you are examining. How will your efforts help build peace or enhance stability?
• How do you propose, from your embassy/post of assignment, to foster U.S. government interagency cooperation and cooperation with the host-country government to address these issues?  Among U.S. government agencies, consider U.S. Agency for International Development, the Foreign Commercial Service and the U.S. Institute of Peace.

Memo Template

TO: Ambassador ______________________

FROM: Only use your first name here

RE: Think of this as your title, make sure to include the country you are writing about

Here you want to lay out the problem, define criteria by which you will be deciding the best steps the U.S. could take, and include a short sentence or two on your final recommendation. Embassy leadership is very busy and reads many memos a day —– they should be able to get the general ““gist”” of your ideas by reading this section.

Background:

This section should provide any background information about the crisis or conflict relevant to your proposed policy. Here, you should mention why the issue is important to U.S. interests, especially peace and security.

Proposed Steps:

This is where you outline your proposed policy. Be specific in describing how the U.S. might address this issue and how these steps can contribute to peace and security. Include which organizations you propose partnering with and why.

Recommendation:

This is where you write your final recommendations for embassy leadership. Think of this as a closing paragraph.

Companion Guide for the 2017 National High School Essay Contest

It is no easy task to jump into the role of a diplomat, especially when confronted by such an urgent crisis. USIP, in consultation with AFSA, developed a guide to provide a basic introduction to the topic and some additional context that can assist you in answering the question, while still challenging you to develop your own unique response. As such, this guide should be used as a starting point to your own research and as you ultimately prepare a compelling memo outlining recommendations the U.S. government should follow to respond to the refugee and IDP crisis.

In the guide you will find: insights into the role of the Foreign Service; country, organization, and key-term briefs to provide a foundational understanding; and a list of other useful resources. Download the Companion Guide for the 2017 National High School Essay Contest (.pdf).

2016 National High School Essay Contest

USIP first partnered with AFSA for the 2016 contest and was pleased to welcome winner Dylan Borne to Washington in August. His paper describes his role as an economic officer in the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance. He writes about promoting education for girls in Afghanistan through on-line courses and dispersal of laptops. Read his winning essay (.pdf).

Home — Essay Samples — Law, Crime & Punishment — Constitution — The Constitution of the United States

The Constitution of The United States

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Published: Jan 4, 2019

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Guest Essay

Trump’s Backers Are Determined Not to Blow It This Time Around

By Thomas B. Edsall

Mr. Edsall contributes a weekly column from Washington, D.C., on politics, demographics and inequality.

In a rare display of unity, more than 100 conservative tax-exempt organizations have joined forces in support of Donald Trump and the MAGA agenda, forming a $2 billion-plus political machine.

Together, these organizations are constructing a detailed postelection agenda, lining up prospective appointees and backing Trump in his legal battles.

Most of the work performed by these nonprofit groups is conducted behind closed doors. Unlike traditional political organizations, these groups do not disclose their donors and must reveal only minimal information on expenditures. In many cases, even this minimal information will not be available until after the 2024 election.

Nonprofits like these are able to maintain a cloak of secrecy by positioning themselves as charitable organizations under section 501(c)(3 ) of the tax code or as social welfare organizations under section 501(c)(4 ).

Not only are these tax-exempt organizations attractive to large contributors who want to keep their roles secret; 501(c)(3) groups have an added benefit: Donors can deduct their gifts from their taxable incomes.

The benefits don’t end there. The minimal reporting requirements imposed on political nonprofits lend themselves to self-dealing, particularly the payment of high salaries and consulting fees, and the award of contracts to for-profit companies owned by executives of the charitable groups.

“The growth of these groups is largely flying under the radar,” Sean Westwood , a political scientist at Dartmouth, wrote by email in response to my inquiry. “This level of coordination is unprecedented.”

Theda Skocpol , a professor of government and sociology at Harvard, replying by email to my inquiry, wrote, “These are detailed plans to take full control of various federal departments and agencies from the very start and to use every power available to implement radical ethnonationalist regulations and action plans.”

This activity, Skocpol continued, amounts to a “full prep for an authoritarian takeover, buttressed by the control Trump and Trumpists now have over the G.O.P. and its apparatuses.”

In this drive by the right to shape policy, should Trump win, there are basically three power centers.

The first is made up of groups pieced together by Leonard Leo , a co-chairman of the Federalist Society, renowned for his role in the conservative takeover of the Supreme Court and of many key posts in the federal and state judiciaries.

If cash is the measure, Leo is the heavyweight champion. Two years ago, my Times colleagues Kenneth P. Vogel and Shane Goldmacher disclosed that a little-known Chicago billionaire, Barre Seid , who made his fortune manufacturing electronic equipment, turned $1.6 billion over to the Marble Freedom Trust , a tax-exempt organization created by Leo in 2021, helping to turn it into a powerhouse.

The second nexus of right-wing tax-exempt groups is the alliance clustered on Capitol Hill around the intersection of Third Street Southeast and Independence Avenue — offices and townhouses that fashion themselves as Patriots’ Row .

Former Trump campaign aides, lawyers and executive appointees, including Mark Meadows , Stephen Miller , Edward Corrigan and Cleta Mitchell , run these organizations. After Trump was defeated in 2020, the cash flow to these groups surged.

The third center is coordinated by the Heritage Foundation , which, under the leadership of Kevin D. Roberts , who assumed its presidency in 2021, has become a committed ally of the MAGA movement.

Heritage, in turn, has created Project 2025 in preparation for a potential Trump victory in November. In a statement of purpose, the project declared:

It is not enough for conservatives to win elections. If we are going to rescue the country from the grip of the radical left, we need both a governing agenda and the right people in place, ready to carry this agenda out on Day 1 of the next conservative administration.

There are more than 100 members of Project 2025, and they include not only most of the Patriots’ Row groups but also much of the Christian right and the anti-abortion movement.

In the view of Lawrence Rosenthal , the chairman and founder of the Berkeley Center for Right-Wing Studies, the convergence of so many conservative organizations leading up to the 2024 election marks a reconciliation, albeit partial, between the two major wings of the Republican Party: the more traditional market fundamentalists and the populist nationalists.

“In 2024,” Rosenthal wrote by email,

the free-market fundamentalists are making their peace on a more basic level than simply tax cuts. Their historic long-term goal — rolling back the federal government to pre-New Deal levels — corresponds to the nationalists’ goal of “deconstruction of the administrative state.” This is what the likes of the now thoroughly MAGA-fied Heritage Foundation is putting together. Recasting the administrative state as the “deep state,” a veritable launchpad for conspiracy-mongering innuendo, easily brings the populists along for the ride despite a “What’s the Matter With Kansas”-like abandonment of their own economic interests on the part of a sector of the population particularly dependent on the range of targets like Social Security and Medicare that the administrative-state deconstructors have in their sights. In return the populists are seeing avatars of Christian nationalism in unprecedented roles of political power — to wit, the current speaker of the House.

The populist-nationalist wing has an agenda that “goes beyond what the free-market fundamentalists have had in mind,” Rosenthal continued:

The model here is by now explicitly Orbanism in Hungary — what Viktor Orban personally dubbed “illiberal democracy.” By now, MAGA at all levels — CPAC, media, Congress, Trump himself — has explicitly embraced Orban. Illiberal regimes claim legitimacy through elections but systematically curtail civil liberties and checks and balances, structurally recasting political institutions so as to make their being voted out of office almost unrealizable.

The centerpiece of Leo’s empire of right-wing groups is the Marble Freedom Trust. The trust described its mission in a 2022 report to the I.R.S.: “To maintain and expand human freedom consistent with the values and ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States.”

In 2016, according to an April 2023 I.R.S. complaint against Leo filed by the Campaign for Accountability , a liberal reform advocacy group, Leo created a consulting company, BH Group, and in 2020 acquired a major ownership interest in CRC Advisors . Both are for-profit entities based in Virginia.

The Campaign for Accountability’s complaint alleges that “Leo-affiliated nonprofits” paid BH Group and CRC Advisors a total of $50.3 million from 2016 to 2020. During this period, according to the complaint, Leo’s lifestyle changed:

In August 2018, he paid off the 30-year mortgage on the McLean, Va., home, most of which was still outstanding on the payoff date. Later that same year, Leonard Leo bought a $3.3 million summer home with 11 bedrooms in Mount Desert, an affluent seaside village on the coast of Maine, using, in part, a 20-year mortgage of $2,310,000. Leonard Leo paid off the entire balance of that mortgage just one year later in July 2019. In September 2021, Leonard Leo bought a second home in Mount Desert for $1.65 million.

The complaint was based partly on a March 2023 Politico story by Heidi Przybyla. She wrote that her “investigation, based on dozens of financial, property and public records dating from 2000 to 2021, found that Leo’s lifestyle took a lavish turn beginning in 2016,” citing Leo’s purchases of the Maine properties, along with “four new cars, private school tuition for his children, hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to Catholic causes and a wine locker at Morton’s Steakhouse.”

In October 2023, Przybyla disclosed (also in Politico ) that Leo was refusing to cooperate with an investigation by Brian Schwalb , the attorney general for the District of Columbia, “for potentially misusing nonprofit tax laws for personal enrichment.”

In a study covering more recent data , Accountable US , another liberal reform group, reported that from 2020, when Leo acquired a share of CRC Advisors, to 2022, seven “groups with immediate ties to Leo’s network have made payments totaling at least $69.77 million to CRC Advisors.”

Those figures were confirmed by Bloomberg’s Emily Birnbaum , who reported that “the sums paid to CRC Advisors by seven nonprofit groups have doubled since Leo came aboard as co-owner and chairman in 2020.”

Leo defended the payments, telling Bloomberg that criticism of the money flowing to CRC Advisors is “baseless” and that CRC performs high-quality work. “CRC Advisors employs nearly 100 best-in-class professionals that put its clients’ money to work,” he told Bloomberg.

In the drive to set the stage for a future Trump administration, the second conservative power center is dominated by the Conservative Partnership Institute , which coordinates its own pro-Trump network.

From 2018 to 2020, the Conservative Partnership was a minor player in Washington’s right-wing community. In that period, according to its 990 report to the I.R.S., its revenues totaled $16.9 million. In the next two years, donations shot up to $80.7 million.

Seven executives at the partnership in 2022 made in excess of $300,000 a year, topped by Meadows, Trump’s last White House chief of staff, whose annual compensation at the Conservative Partnership totaled $889,687 in 2022.

The Conservative Partnership and allied groups do not disclose donors, and none of the data on how much they raised and spent in 2023 and 2024 — or the identities of grant recipients — will be available before Nov. 5, 2024, Election Day.

The Conservative Partnership, like many of its sister groups, filed its 990 reports to the I.R.S. for 2020, 2021 and 2022 on Nov. 15 of each following year. If that pattern continues, its reports covering 2023 and 2024 will not be filed until Nov. 15 of the next year.

The partnership lists its address as 300 Independence Avenue Southeast in Washington, a three-story office building on Patriots’ Row that was originally the German-American Building Association.

Groups using the same mailing address include the Center for Renewing America (“God, country and community are at the heart of this agenda”), the Election Integrity Network (“Conservative leaders, organizations, public officials and citizens dedicated to securing the legality of every American vote”), Compass Legal Group , American Creative Network (“We will redefine the future of media-related conservative collaboration”), the American Accountability Foundation (“Exposing the truth behind the people and policies of the Biden administration that threaten the freedoms of the American people”), America First Legal (“Fighting back against lawless executive actions and the radical left”), Citizens for Renewing America and Citizens for Sanity (“To defeat ‘wokeism’ and anti-critical-thinking ideologies that have permeated every sector of our country”).

Since it was formed in 2020, Stephen Miller’s America First Legal foundation has been a case study in rapid growth. In its first year, it raised $6.4 million. In 2021 this rose to $44.4 million and to $50.8 million in 2022.

America First lawyers wrote two of the amicus briefs arguing to the Supreme Court that Trump should be restored to Colorado’s ballot . In one of the briefs , America First defended Trump’s actions and language on Jan. 6, 2021:

President Trump did not “engage in” insurrection. To engage in something is to take an active, personal role in it. Comparisons in modern language abound. When news emerges that nations have “engaged in military exercises,” one expects to read that “ships and planes” have been deployed, not tweets or press releases. Similarly, if someone has been described as “engaging in violence,” one expects that the person being spoken about has himself used force on another — not that he has issued some taunt about force undertaken by a third party. Engaging in a matter and remarking publicly about it are not the same, even with matters as weighty as wars or insurrections.

While the Heritage Foundation had relatively modest revenues of $95.1 million in 2022, according to its I.R.S. filing , its Project 2025 has become an anchor of the MAGA movement.

Trump has said he does not feel bound to accept all of the Project 2025 proposals, but the weight of institutional support from the right and Trump’s lack of interest in detailed planning suggest that those proposals may well shape much of the agenda in the event of a Trump victory.

The authors of Project 2025 want to avoid a repetition of 2017, when Trump took office with scant planning and little notion of who should be appointed to key positions.

Spencer Chretien , an associate director of Project 2025, put this concern delicately in a January 2023 essay published by The American Conservative , pointedly avoiding any criticism of Trump:

In November 2016, American conservatives stood on the verge of greatness. The election of Donald Trump to the presidency was a triumph that offered the best chance to reverse the left’s incessant march of progress for its own sake. Many of the best accomplishments, though, happened only in the last year of the Trump administration, after our political appointees had finally figured out the policies and process of different agencies, and after the right personnel were finally in place.

One function of the project is to put as much ideological muscle as possible behind Trump to ensure that if he wins the White House again, he does not wander afield.

From the vantage point of the right, that muscle is impressive, ranging from Oren Cass’s populist American Compass to Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America , from the tradition-minded American Conservative to the Independent Women’s Forum .

In the foreword to the project’s nearly 1,000-page description of its 2025 agenda, “ Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise ,” Roberts, the president of Heritage, wrote:

This book is the work of the entire conservative movement. As such, the authors express consensus recommendations already forged, especially along four broad fronts that will decide America’s future: 1. Restore the family as the centerpiece of American life and protect our children. 2. Dismantle the administrative state and return self-governance to the American people. 3. Defend our nation’s sovereignty, borders and bounty against global threats. 4. Secure our God-given individual rights to live freely — what our Constitution calls “the blessings of liberty.”

Perhaps the most impressive part of Project 2025 is the detailed and ideologically infused discussion of virtually every federal department and agency, all guided by the goal of instituting conservative policies.

Take the 53-page chapter, including 87 footnotes, focused on the Department of Health and Human Services, written by Roger Severino , the vice president for domestic policy at Heritage. The top priority of the department in January 2025, he wrote, must be “protecting life, conscience and bodily integrity.” The secretary “must ensure that all H.H.S. programs and activities are rooted in a deep respect for innocent human life from Day 1 until natural death: Abortion and euthanasia are not health care.”

Going deeper, Severino contended that the department must flatly reject “harmful identity politics that replaces biological sex with subjective notions of ‘gender identity’ and bases a person’s worth on his or her race, sex or other identities. This destructive dogma, under the guise of ‘equity,’ threatens American’s fundamental liberties as well as the health and well-being of children and adults alike.”

Severino did not stop there. In his view, the department must be in the business of “promoting stable and flourishing married families” because “in the overwhelming number of cases, fathers insulate children from physical and sexual abuse, financial difficulty or poverty, incarceration, teen pregnancy, poor educational outcomes, high school failure and a host of behavioral and psychological problems.”

Regarding the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in Severino’s analysis:

By statute or regulation, C.D.C. guidance must be prohibited from taking on a prescriptive character. For example, never again should C.D.C. officials be allowed to say in their official capacity that schoolchildren “should be” masked or vaccinated or prohibited from learning in a school building. Such decisions should be left to parents and medical providers.

At the start of the book, Paul Dans , the executive director of Project 2025, pointedly wrote that “it’s not 1980,” when Heritage produced the first “Mandate for Leadership” to guide the incoming administration of Ronald Reagan. Instead, Dans argued, the United States in 2024 is at an apocalyptic moment:

The game has changed. The long march of cultural Marxism through our institutions has come to pass. The federal government is a behemoth, weaponized against American citizens and conservative values, with freedom and liberty under siege as never before. The task at hand to reverse this tide and restore our republic to its original moorings is too great for any one conservative policy shop to spearhead. It requires the collective action of our movement. With the quickening approach of January 2025, we have one chance to get it right.

This time, the conservative movement plans to exercise maximum surveillance over an incoming Trump administration. In other words, there will be no kidding around.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here's our email: [email protected] .

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An earlier version of this article misspelled the surname of an associate director of Project 2025. He is Spencer Chretien, not Chretian.

How we handle corrections

Thomas B. Edsall has been a contributor to the Times Opinion section since 2011. His column on strategic and demographic trends in American politics appears every Wednesday. He previously covered politics for The Washington Post. @ edsall

Stanford's Rachel Heck pens first-person essay to explain why she won't go pro

T his spring, after Rachel Heck completes her senior year at Stanford, she’ll put her golf clubs away and take on an internship in private equity. She’ll also be pinned as a Lieutenant of the United States Air Force. Heck explained her reasons for not turning professional in a first-person essay on nolayingup.com.

“I was strongly considering attributing my decision to my injuries,” wrote Heck, who has grappled with several in recent years. “It is true that even if I wanted to, I do not know if my body would hold up on tour. But frankly, after a couple of years of painful deliberation, I have come to realize that I do not want to play professional golf.

"I do not want a life on the road and in the public eye. I no longer dream of the U.S. Open trophies and the Hall of Fame. And I realize now that these dreams were never what my dad intended when he first put a club in my hand.”

https://twitter.com/rachelheck2020/status/1772274878592266370

Heck qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open at age 15 and, as a hotshot junior, suffered a back injury that left her sidelined from the game. Without golf, she felt lost, and during a period of darkness, decided that she wanted to pursue the Air Force ROTC to find something more. Heck’s parents told her she was crazy, but she persisted.

As a freshman at Stanford, with dreams of playing on the LPGA and serving in the Air Force in full throttle , Heck set an NCAA scoring record (69.72) en route to sweeping the postseason.

Heck won six times in nine starts in 2021, including her last five events. She became the third player in NCAA history to sweep the postseason, winning the Pac-12 Championship, NCAA regionals and nationals. She posted 15 of 25 rounds in the 60s, including 12 consecutive.

But, as her college career progressed, more injuries followed. While Heck intends to pass on the professional life, she does plan to continue to play amateur golf, following a similar path set by Wake Forest grad Emilia Migliaccio.

“I have grappled with anger, hope, depression, joy, and everything in between,” Heck wrote, “but amid each trial in which I so desperately sought the clarity of a deeper meaning, God always showed me the next step. Right now, the next step is not professional golf.”

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Stanford's Rachel Heck pens first-person essay to explain why she won't go pro

Immigration and the United States Essay

Gelatt, Julia et al. “Navigating the Future of Work: The Role of Immigrant-Origin Workers in the Changing U.S. Economy”. Migration Policy Institute , 2020, Web.

The report illustrates the role immigrants play in the evolving U.S economy. The authors begin the text by indicating that the foreign nationals were responsible for the 83% country’s labor force growth between 2010 and 2018. The document projects that the group is crucial to the developments in the working-age population through 2035. The strength of the information lies in its in-depth analysis of immigrants’ racial and ethnic challenges and their effect on the country’s future workforce. The authors are policy analysts at the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) and, therefore, make the contents credible.

MPI. “Amid U.S. Demand for Higher Skills and Education, Credentialing Immigrant-Origin Adult Workers Could Be Key” . 2019, Web.

The press release by MPI attempts to explain the increasing importance of adult immigrants in the United States’ workforce. The document predicts that the country will be short of about 8 million workers by 2027 because the current native employees are aging. On the other hand, the approximated number of immigrants in the region is 58 million, and the group is projected to be the main source of the future labor force. Unfortunately, more than half of this population lacks post-secondary education, which is crucial for an effective workforce. The source is essential to the study because it gives statistical evidence of the need for education among immigrants to improve their contribution to America’s human resource.

Sherman, Arloc et al. “Immigrants Contribute Greatly to U.S. Economy, Despite Administration’s “Public Charge” Rule Rationale” . Center on Budget and Policy Priorities , 2019, Web.

The “Public Charge” rule was developed to deny immigrants who have the potential of being a liability to the county from gaining entry. This law assumes that most foreigners are poor and are likely to cause financial constraints for the government. However, it does not consider the positive contributions the foreign nationals make to the country. Consequently, the report evaluates the impacts they have on the economy. The authors illustrate that immigrants work at higher rates than the natives and occupy close to two-thirds of most industries. The authors are professionals in immigration services and policies, and therefore are classified as credible sources.

According to Gelatt et al., the United States is ranked as the largest hub for immigrants globally. However, even though it is faster and easier for foreigners to assimilate in the U.S, the immigration policy has become a matter of debate in the region. Most of the arguments revolve around the cultural and financial implications of the movement. However, economic analysts argue that there is little evidence to show that the increase in foreign labor has reduced the number of jobs in the country. On the contrary, immigration has more positive impacts as it leads to better occupational specialization. However, most foreign nationals have insufficient education and find it hard to maximize their potential in America’s workforce. Therefore, the federal government needs to integrate learning opportunities into immigrant policies to equip them fully.

The primary objective of education is to give individuals the required knowledge to help them contribute effectively to a country’s economy. Consequently, highly educated immigrants are assets in the United States’ labor force. According to Gelatt et al., foreign employees are the future of the U.S. human resources because they work at higher rates and represent the highest number of staff members in most industries. Consequently, placing them at the same educational level as the native population will improve their efficiency and create a reliable workforce. Similarly, MPI’s report suggests a link between degree and non-degree credentials and the economic results among adult immigrants. Workers who are not of American origin will improve their skills with the attainment of the right education.

Conversely, immigrants with low or no educational qualifications are a liability to the American economy. One of the greatest challenges among U.S residents is communication because the inhabitants are from various parts of the world, yet the official and national language is English. According to Gelatt et al., most food restaurants and hotels are run by foreigners, particularly Latina. Unfortunately, the lack of education makes it difficult for these individuals to speak eloquently, slowing down businesses. MPI agrees with concern and indicates that English proficiency is another hindrance to obtaining credentials among immigrants besides legal status. Lack of education makes it difficult for foreign nationals to survive in America, which further affects their contributions to the economy.

Consequently, there is a need for sustainable solutions that will empower immigrants with regard to education. Gelatt et al. acknowledge that the future of American jobs will require middle and high-skilled individuals and, therefore, suggest affordable vocational schooling for minority families. This strategy will ensure all immigrants get a chance to take their children through schools comfortably. The press release by MPI, on the other hand, indicates that 16.7 million immigrant adults lack proficiency in English because they have not attained post-secondary education. The institution suggests that employers offer skills training that focuses on the English language. Creating affordable learning programs and training immigrant employees positively impacts the U.S. workforce.

From the report and press release by the MPI, it is clear that the future of the job market will be more demanding, affecting immigrants in the workforce. Gelatt et al. state that industries are bound to embrace automation, reducing low-skilled jobs. Unfortunately, Sherman et al. indicate that the birth rate among Native Americans is low, which means that the country’s future economy is in the hands of foreign nationals. Consequently, the government must develop strategies to ensure the immigrants gain middle and high-level job skills.

Immigrants do not have to go to public and private universities to be profitable in the U.S. economy. MPI suggests that non-degree credentials are enough to make positive labor returns. Additionally, according to Sherman et al., foreign nationals with licenses and certifications in occupations, including chefs and barbers, demonstrate higher labor force involvement levels. The immigrant federal department is responsible for ensuring the members acquire the credentials they require to participate in the nation’s economic developments.

The hard work among foreign nationals in America is seen in the increased competition level among them and Native Americans in the job market. Gelatt et al. attribute this development to the increased equal learning opportunities in academic institutions. Research indicates that immigrants’ children are attaining more education and even earning more than their parents (Sherman et al.). Second-generation foreign nationals are the future of the United States’ economy, and the government must ensure they are presented with equal opportunities in schools and the job market.

The American government has the responsibility to ensure immigrants have sufficient learning experiences to equip them for America’s future economy. Highly educated foreigners have proven to be competitive occupying the same positions as natives in the job industry. On the other hand, those who have not attained post-secondary education struggle to survive because they lack English proficiency and cannot express themselves well in the workplace. The future of the U.S. economy appears to be bright, but this dream’s actualization highly depends on empowering and educating immigrants.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2022, February 25). Immigration and the United States. https://ivypanda.com/essays/immigration-and-the-united-states/

"Immigration and the United States." IvyPanda , 25 Feb. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/immigration-and-the-united-states/.

IvyPanda . (2022) 'Immigration and the United States'. 25 February.

IvyPanda . 2022. "Immigration and the United States." February 25, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/immigration-and-the-united-states/.

1. IvyPanda . "Immigration and the United States." February 25, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/immigration-and-the-united-states/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Immigration and the United States." February 25, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/immigration-and-the-united-states/.

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