A collector of stories

For nearly 12 years as founding CEO of the National 9/11 Memorial & Museum, strangers on planes and street corners told him where they were that morning.

“I'm almost certain I've heard more 9/11 stories than anyone else on earth.”

The stories never stop at Tuesday

People kept talking about what came after: duffel bags thrown in cars for Ground Zero, kids enlisting, strangers taking in stranded travelers.

There was no golden age

Pre-9/11 America was not calm. Bush v. Gore had been decided nine months earlier, the Clinton impeachment three years before that.

“the chasms we once shouted across became neighborhoods again”

2,977 people, 92 nations

The dead were rich and poor, religious and secular, immigrant and native-born. Their differences were the American experiment, which is exactly what felt worth protecting.

What actually scares him now

Only 66% of Americans call democratic elections extremely or very important to national identity, down from 80% in 2021. Just 14% of 18-to-34-year-olds are extremely proud to be American.

When dissent becomes crusade

Roughly one in five Americans endorse harassment, doxxing, or violence against political opponents. Certainty of your own righteousness becomes permission to drop the restraints.

“The danger comes when political clashes become crusades”

Building on contested ground

Every choice at the memorial was fought over: how to arrange the names, whether to show the hijackers, how much to say about America's response. They built it anyway.

“pluralism doesn't require agreement”

Some things aren't up for renegotiation

Rule of law, free expression, equal citizenship are the terms of the deal, not campaign planks. You can protect someone's right to reject the experiment without calling that rejection a version of it.

“They are the terms of the deal.”