177 – Dear Mr. President with Destry Edwards

Former president Chester A. Arthur is probably best remembered for his mutton chops and as a trivia question.  But he did play a surprising role as a reformer when the nation was in the grips of political corruption.  And the story of how he found the courage to do so holds some lessons for how we might interact with political power today in hopes of a better tomorrow.

 

Joining Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is Destry Edwards to discuss his new documentary Dear Mr. President: The Letters of Julia Sand, and how a single citizen can have an outsized effect on our political system.

 

About Destry Edwards

Destry Edwards is the Media Production and Studio Manager at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. With a passion for both film and politics, Destry seeks to use storytelling as a way to bridge the gap between people and policy. He is a native of the great state of South Carolina. Before coming on with CEI, Destry’s background includes time at FreedomWorks and Blaze Media. Destry holds a Bachelor of Science in Cinema Production from Bob Jones University.

 

About the Documentary

 

In 1881, following President James Garfield’s assassination, the country was in turmoil. Many suspected Vice President Chester Arthur, a long-time beneficiary of the spoils system, to be a party to the plot and dreaded his ascension to the presidency.

In the immediate aftermath—and before the height of the women’s suffrage movement—New Yorker Julia Sand wrote to the soon-to-be President. Between August 1881 and September 1883, Sand penned 23 letters to President Arthur imploring him to abandon his corrupt machinations, become the leader the country deserved, and champion civil service reform. 

The Competitive Enterprise Institute proudly presents the documentary Dear Mr. President: The Letters of Julia Sand to discover the outsized effect a single citizen can have on our political system.

 

You can watch the full documentary on the streaming platform .css-j9qmi7{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:2.8rem;width:100%;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:start;justify-content:start;padding-left:5rem;}@media only screen and (max-width: 599px){.css-j9qmi7{padding-left:0;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;}}.css-j9qmi7 svg{fill:#27292D;}.css-j9qmi7 .eagfbvw0{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;color:#27292D;}