Boys Nation
Boys Nation is an annual forum concerning civic training, government, leadership, and Americanism that is run by the American Legion.[2] One hundred Boys Nation Senators are chosen from a pool of over 20,000 Boys State participants, making it one of the most selective educational programs in the United States.[3][4]
Each year, two delegates in the summer after their junior year of high school are selected from each of the fifty American Legion Boys State programs in the United States (Hawaii does not host a Boys State however Washington DC does).[2][4] These delegates attend a week-long event in Washington, DC funded by scholarships.
In 2020, the New York Post published an article citing Boys Nation and Boys State as summer camps that groom future presidents and governors.[5]
The event endeavors to teach delegates about the processes of the Federal government of the United States by establishing a mock Senate and organizing mock elections of a Boys Nation Senate President Pro Tempore, Senate Secretary, Vice President, and President. Senators also attend lectures and forums, and visit governmental institutions and historical sites. Tom Brokaw and former president Bill Clinton were previous Boys Nation senators.[6] It is a tradition for the student senators to take a private tour of the White House and be received by the current president. Boys Nation senators also ordinarily receive private tours of the United States Supreme Court, the Congress, the Pentagon, and the State Department, several senators have also met with the incumbent president, including Donald Trump in 2017.[7]
Students assume the role of a United States Senator, representing their respective (Boys) State. They write and introduce bills and debate in the senate chambers. Delegates are split into political parties and draft a party platform as well as perform usual party duties like nominations for president and vice-president, along with elected party leadership.[4] For 2025's session, Luke Lawson was elected president.
The American Legion Auxiliary runs a similar event called Girls Nation.[8]
List of Boys Nation Senators
| State | Senator | High School |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska | Aidan Koontz | Eagle River High School |
| Alaska | Tate Tucker | Ketchikan High School |
| Alabama | Luke Lawson | Headland High School |
| Alabama | Nicholas Frazier | Stanhope Elmore High School |
| Arkansas | Isaiah Marshall | Southside High School |
| Arkansas | Ian Lee-Kim | Conway High School |
| Arizona | Vedang Chintalapati | Basis Scottsdale High School |
| Arizona | Charles Nelles | Brophy College Preparatory |
| California | Frank Diorio | Twenty-Nine Palms High School |
| California | Beauregard Chiasson | Geffren Academy at UCLA |
| Colorado | Brodie Lyle | Rock Canyon High School |
| Colorado | Luka Nieto | Lakewood High School |
| Connecticut | Shawn Carr | Lewis S. Mills High School |
| Connecticut | Jacoby Fry | Bristol Central High School |
| D.C. | Aidan Sokolov | Gonzaga College High School |
| D.C. | Gabriel Donoghue | St. Albans School |
| Delaware | Floyd Moore | Sussex Technical High School |
| Delaware | Giovanni Tiano | Sussex Central High School |
| Florida | Cole Rewis | Fort Walton Beach High School |
| Florida | Peyton Kilgore | Union County High School |
| Georgia | John Cowley | Brookstone School |
| Georgia | Dominic Mimbang | Coffee High School |
| Iowa | James Peng | Cedar Falls High School |
| Iowa | Bronson Beals | Linn-Mar |
| Idaho | Sterling Alldridge | Idaho Home Learning Academy |
| Idaho | JC Morgenstern | Liberty University Online Academy |
| Illinois | Joshua Koyfman | Deerfield High School |
| Illinois | Brendan Ziegenhorn | Prospect High School |
| Indiana | Dean Watson | Carmel High School |
| Indiana | Daniel Leffert | Park Tudor School |
| Kansas | Tristan Jenkins | Olathe South High School |
| Kansas | Garrett Li | Olathe North High School |
| Kentucky | Reed Jones | Kentucky Country Day School |
| Kentucky | Benjamin Cauley | Bullitt East High School |
| Louisiana | Alex Guillot | East Ascension High School |
| Louisiana | Khaymen George | Carencro High School |
| Massachusetts | Zachary Tubbs | Foxborough High School |
| Massachusetts | Roy Mwangi | Leominster High School |
| Maryland | Will Fermaglich | Bethesda Chevy Chase High School |
| Maryland | Erin Allistar | River Hill High School |
| Maine | Taisen Pilotte | Erksine Academy |
| Maine | Henry Wilson | St. Pauls School |
| Michigan | Xavier Evoy | University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy |
| Michigan | Gabriel Lencioni | Divine Child High School |
| Minnesota | Zander Carbonneau | Luverne High School |
| Minnesota | Noah Hanson | Blue Earth Area High School |
| Missouri | Cy Griffith | Kickapoo High School |
| Missouri | Shrivats Manikandan | Kirksville High School |
| Mississippi | Samanyu Misra | Oxford High School |
| Mississippi | Juelz Jordan | Yazoo City High School |
| Montana | Kellen Edward | Billings West |
| Montana | Wade Stohlmann | Gallatin High School |
| North Carolina | Willam Clark | Northwood High School |
| North Carolina | Connor Wilkerson | West Brunswick High School |
| North Dakota | Kellen Westman | Valley City Public School |
| North Dakota | Zuan Park | West Fargo Sheyenne High School |
| Nebraska | Roosevelt Wilken | Millard South High School |
| Nebraska | Reece Santamaria | Papillion LaVista High School |
| New Hampshire | Casey Peters | The Derryfield School |
| New Hampshire | Ryan Casey | Bishop Brady High School |
| New Jersey | Christopher Kahwaty | Howell High School |
| New Jersey | Vincent Price | Christian Brothers Academy |
| New Mexico | Indio Ward | Baton High School |
| New Mexico | Carlo Carriere | Arrowhead Park ECHS |
| Nevada | Gavin Ashby | Reed High School |
| Nevada | Nathan Kerr | Bishop Gorman High School |
| New York | David Brophy | Clarence High School |
| New York | Gabriel Rhodes | Dwight-Englewood School |
| Ohio | Joseph Beauchesne | Bay High School |
| Ohio | Duncan Hass | Jackson High School |
| Oklahoma | Alex Kidangathazhe | Stillwater High School |
| Oklahoma | Austin Bitting | Holland Hall High School |
| Oregon | Stuart Young | Oregon Episcopal School |
| Oregon | Vibhav Javali | Crescent Valley High School |
| Pennsylvania | Andrew Li | Germantown Friends School |
| Pennsylvania | Luke Zhong | Germantown Friends School |
| Rhode Island | Quincy Marino | LaSalle Academy |
| Rhode Island | Aidan Quinn | Mount Saint Charles Academy |
| South Carolina | Ross Wilson | Homeschool |
| South Carolina | Zuriel Nyamutsaka | Academic Magnet High School |
| South Dakota | Lewis Carlyle | Rapid City Stevens High School |
| South Dakota | Alexander Smith | Sioux Falls Lutheran High School |
| Tennessee | Abhi Patel | Brentwood High School |
| Tennessee | Cooper Castle | Daniel Boone High School |
| Texas | Troy Balogun | San Antonio Johnson High School |
| Texas | Rowan Seipp | A&M Consolidated High School |
| Utah | Yamato Lerwill | East High School |
| Utah | Josiah Webster | International School of Kenya |
| Virginia | Paolo Mascola | Robinson Secondary School |
| Virginia | Braden Tull | Wakefield High School |
| Vermont | Sawyer Garthaffner | Vergennes Union High School |
| Vermont | Jacoby Soter | Bellows Free Academy St. Albans |
| Washington | Derek Su | Issaquah High School |
| Washington | Asher Larsen | Sehome High School |
| Wisconsin | Joshua Mims | Menomonee Falls High School |
| Wisconsin | Charles Sanderson-Haque | Edgerton High School |
| West Virginia | Kethan Neginhal | Huntington High School |
| West Virginia | Jackson Vanhoose | Ripley High School |
| Wyoming | Blake Anderson | Sheridan High School |
| Wyoming | Charles Frausto | Natrona County High School |
| State | Senator | High School |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska | Cole Smith | Eagle River High School |
| Alaska | Inca Shannon | North Pole High School |
| Alabama | Rohan Parekh | Vestavia Hills High School |
| Alabama | Soloman Arnold | Horseshoe Bend High School |
| Arkansas | Chance Bradford I | Mills University Studies High School |
| Arkansas | X'Zaeviun Sims | Pine Bluffs High School |
| Arizona | Andrew Johnson | |
| Arizona | Timothy Jiang | |
| California | Chad Smith Jr. | Philips Exeter Academy |
| California | Matthew Chang | Woodbridge High School |
| Colorado | Dominic Dogue | |
| Colorado | Rowan McCune | |
| Connecticut | Ariq Rahman | Masuk High School |
| Connecticut | Langtian Zhang | Wilton High School |
| D.C. | Max Dunn | Gonzaga College High School |
| D.C. | William Wittwer Jr. | |
| Delaware | Kieran Morrissey | Delmar High School |
| Delaware | Quinn Murphy | Cape Henlopen High School |
| Florida | Bernardo Guidi | American Heritage School Plantation |
| Florida | Samuel Zhang | Coral Reef Senior High School |
| Georgia | Benjamin Blackwood | The Walker School |
| Georgia | Grant Pool | North Cobb Christian School |
| Iowa | Jacob Bishop | |
| Iowa | Matthew Hardy | |
| Idaho | Paul Anderson | |
| Idaho | Joshua Williams | |
| Illinois | Eshaam Bhattad | Stevenson High School |
| Illinois | Ishaan Bhonagiri | Stevenson High School |
| Indiana | Cole Ramsey | Western Boone Jr.-Sr. High School |
| Indiana | Daniel Leffert | |
| Kansas | Aidan Lessard | |
| Kansas | Alexandro Garcia | |
| Kentucky | Grayson Beckham | St. Xavier High School |
| Kentucky | Jexy Sohl | |
| Louisiana | Christopher Johnson Jr. | |
| Louisiana | Barrett LeBon | Airline High School |
| Massachusetts | Simon Farruqui | Milton Academy |
| Massachusetts | Luke Organisciak | Andover High School |
| Maryland | Charan Bala | River Hill High School |
| Maryland | Julien Halleman | Broadneck High School |
| Maine | Tristen Wing | |
| Maine | Jack Fenton | |
| Michigan | Samuel Baghdadchi | |
| Michigan | Isaiah Kabban | |
| Minnesota | Tucker Fournier | |
| Minnesota | Lonne Gilbert | |
| Missouri | John Honnold | |
| Missouri | Arjun Garikapaty | |
| Mississippi | Lindan Garner I | |
| Mississippi | Braden Overby | |
| Montana | Lane Chivers | |
| Montana | Michael Peck | |
| North Carolina | William Drake | Woods Charter School |
| North Carolina | Abel Dees | |
| North Dakota | Rhett Lindell | |
| North Dakota | Nader Said | |
| Nebraska | Grant Ruma | |
| Nebraska | Nikolai Khots | |
| New Hampshire | Trevor Abel | Bow High School |
| New Hampshire | Marco Getchell | Lebanon High School |
| New Jersey | Levi Schiffer | Delbarton School |
| New Jersey | Jack Haid | Chatham High School |
| New Mexico | Carroll Andrei Santiago | |
| New Mexico | Faris Aswad | |
| Nevada | Aaron Sebastian | |
| Nevada | Armand Iorgulescu | |
| New York | Nolan Reinhardt | Elwood/John Glenn High School |
| New York | Thomas Marrapodi | Christian Brothers Academy (Albany, New York) |
| Ohio | Alejandro Ramirez | Sylvania Northview High School |
| Ohio | Rudi Gross | Coldwater Highschool |
| Oklahoma | Michael Cameron | |
| Oklahoma | Morgan Johnson | Wagoner High School |
| Oregon | Ian Xia | Jesuit High School |
| Oregon | Nathan Bender | Oregon Episcopal School |
| Pennsylvania | Peter Kennedy | Chester B. Reed Henderson High School |
| Pennsylvania | Anthony Speicher | Ambridge Area Senior High School |
| Rhode Island | Garrett Kirwin | |
| Rhode Island | Ian Butash | Mount Saint Charles Academy |
| South Carolina | Charles Ratterree | |
| South Carolina | Jackson Spafford | |
| South Dakota | Joseph Juenger | |
| South Dakota | Blixa Broussard | |
| Tennessee | Yug Patel | |
| Tennessee | Brock Tobler | |
| Texas | Yosef Herrera | The Science Academy of South Texas |
| Texas | John Fahoum | Carroll Senior High School |
| Utah | Cash McFadden | |
| Utah | Crew Durrant | |
| Virginia | Tate Jordan | Gainesville High School |
| Virginia | Oliver Muhlenfeld | Benedictine College Preparatory |
| Vermont | Grey Fearon | |
| Vermont | Ricardo Perez | |
| Washington | Levi Hanscom | |
| Washington | Mitchell Natale | |
| Wisconsin | Matthew Goninen | Mineral Point High School |
| Wisconsin | Oscar Danz | Northwestern High School |
| West Virginia | Tyler Garbrick | |
| West Virginia | Haden Hodge | |
| Wyoming | Hunter Tanner | Kelly Walsh High School |
| Wyoming | Casey J Toner |
| State | Senator | High School |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska | Grady Eule | Eagle River High School |
| Alaska | Patrick Omey | Marine Military Academy |
| Alabama | Landon Bruski | Madison County High School |
| Alabama | Thomas Fleming | Home Schooled |
| Arkansas | Harrison Henry | Fayetteville High School |
| Arkansas | Tanner Holden | Benton High School |
| Arizona | Ghais Redmon Jr. | Tempe Union High School District |
| Arizona | Chase Hoel | Pusch Ridge Christian Academy |
| California | Daniel Zhao | Flintridge Preparatory School |
| California | Hugo Chiasson | Geffen Academy at UCLA |
| Colorado | Richard Bosch | Liberty Common School |
| Colorado | Siddharth Nareddy | Peak to Peak Charter School |
| Connecticut | James Murano | St. Joseph High School |
| Connecticut | Daniel Pichardo | Newington High School |
| D.C. | Mustafa Baryal | Stafford Senior High School |
| D.C. | Jackson Wilson | St. Albans School |
| Delaware | Guillermo Cabrera | Cab Calloway School of the Arts |
| Delaware | Alexander Budd | First State Military Academy |
| Florida | Benjamin Black | Ponte Vedra High School |
| Florida | Siddarth Rama | Cypress Bay High School |
| Georgia | Anant Gautam | South Forsyth High School |
| Georgia | Hillis Kopecky | The Westminster Schools |
| Iowa | Param Sampat | Cedar Falls High School |
| Iowa | Andrew Dong | Iowa City West High School |
| Idaho | Luke Gilliam | Bishop Kelly High School |
| Idaho | Hoyoon Song | Bishop Kelly High School |
| Illinois | Donovan Scott | Sacred Heart-Griffin High School |
| Illinois | Patrick Weaver | Cary-Grove Community High School |
| Indiana | Jayden Seaton | University High School |
| Indiana | Bahar Djour | Westfield High School |
| Kansas | Creytin Sanner | Junction City High School |
| Kansas | Adiel Garcia II | Spring Hill High School |
| Kentucky | Caiden Thompson | Warren Central High Senior |
| Kentucky | David Daniel II | Owensboro High School |
| Louisiana | Joshua Blake | Lakeshore High School |
| Louisiana | Braylin Broussard | Lafayette High School |
| Massachusetts | Renby Fernald II | Middlesex School |
| Massachusetts | Edward Mukalazi | Andover High School |
| Maryland | Sangwoo Park | Northwest High School |
| Maryland | Jonah Woo | Marriotts Ridge High School |
| Maine | John McCormick | Cape Elizabeth High School |
| Maine | Matthew Ewy | Kennebunk High School |
| Michigan | Michael Bryant | Saline High School |
| Michigan | Lachlan Imfeld | Dexter High School |
| Minnesota | Jacob Bigalk | Rosemount High School |
| Minnesota | Davarius Wade | Park High School |
| Missouri | Andrew Puthumana | Rockhurst High School |
| Missouri | Aidan Heaney | Hermann High School |
| Mississippi | Jimmil Taylor | East Central High School |
| Mississippi | Hiram Eastland IV | Oxford High School |
| Montana | Rhenee Bandola | Judith Gap School |
| Montana | Scott Voigt | Gallatin High School |
| North Carolina | Tucker Coombs | Harnett Central High School |
| North Carolina | Jacob Evans | Cary High School |
| North Dakota | Alexander Ternes | Legacy High School |
| North Dakota | Patrick Shen | Davies High School |
| Nebraska | Nayan Vel | Millard North High School |
| Nebraska | Porter Nelson | Lincoln Southeast High School |
| New Hampshire | Akshay Manchanda | Manchester Central High School |
| New Hampshire | James Thibault | Winnisquam Regional High School |
| New Jersey | Dillon Dukes | Kingsway Regional High School |
| New Jersey | Christopher Gorman | Moorestown High School |
| New Mexico | Francisco Villa-Lopez | West Las Vegas High School |
| New Mexico | Eric Rodriguez | Mora High School |
| Nevada | Ethan Nguyen | Advanced Technologies Academy |
| Nevada | Matthew Martinez Valcher | Damonte Ranch High School |
| New York | Cole Bjornson | Susan E. Wagner High School |
| New York | Ian Chung | Vestal Senior High School |
| Ohio | Ronald Spears II | Theodore Roosevelt High School |
| Ohio | Ethan Young | Theodore Roosevelt High School |
| Oklahoma | Asher Patel | Holland Hall School |
| Oklahoma | Smith Langum | Bethany High School |
| Oregon | Langston Kaptur | Central Catholic High School |
| Oregon | Morgan Stutrud | Stayton High School |
| Pennsylvania | Arjun Ray | Groton School |
| Pennsylvania | Alex Chen | West Chester East High School |
| Rhode Island | Matthew Donahue | Mount Saint Charles Academy |
| Rhode Island | Aidan Simao | Coventry High School |
| South Carolina | Aidan Dong | Dreher High School |
| South Carolina | Braden Freeman | J.L. Mann High Academy |
| South Dakota | Max Altena | Lincoln High School |
| South Dakota | Austin Jenkins | Frederick Area School District |
| Tennessee | Mohib Ahmed | Maryville High School |
| Tennessee | Landon Bull | Seymour High School Senior |
| Texas | Venkata Yenuganti | Newman Smith High School |
| Texas | Rowen Hamilton | Smithson Valley High School |
| Utah | Colby Stone | Northern Utah Academy of Math Engineering and Science |
| Utah | Carsen Cooper | Desert Hills High School |
| Virginia | Palmer Van Zandt | James Monroe High School |
| Virginia | Clint Ellison | Benedictine College Preparatory |
| Vermont | Kallen Zborovsky-Fenster | Burr & Burton Academy |
| Vermont | Edward Fallis | Middlebury Union High School |
| Washington | John Culligan | Oak Harbor High School |
| Washington | Nadir El Yaddasse | Seoul Foreign School |
| Wisconsin | Ruben Mendes | Germantown High School |
| Wisconsin | Henry Pahlow | Denmark High School |
| West Virginia | Christian Arnold | Notre Dame High School |
| West Virginia | Samuel Dodson | Bridgeport High School |
| Wyoming | Jhett West | Sheridan High School |
| Wyoming | Caleb Greenlee | Cheyenne South High School |
Notable alumni
- David Barlow, United States Attorney, District of Utah
- Max Baucus, United States Ambassador and Senator, Montana
- Beau Biden, Attorney General of Delaware
- Tom Brokaw, Former NBC anchorman
- Steve Bullock, Governor of Montana
- Aneesh Chopra, United States Chief Technology Officer
- Chris Christie, Former Governor of New Jersey
- David Cicilline, United States Representative, Rhode Island
- Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States
- Tom Cotton, United States Senator, Arkansas
- Mitch Daniels, Former Governor of Indiana, Current President, Purdue University
- Lawrence DiCara, Attorney, Politician, former Boston City Council President
- H. Alston Johnson III, Former federal judicial nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- John Neely Kennedy, United States Senator, Louisiana
- Alan Keyes, politician
- Mike Lee, United States Senator, Utah
- Joe Lieberman, United States Senator, Connecticut and VP Candidate
- Donal Logue, film and television actor
- Gray H. Miller, U.S. District Court Judge
- Nate Morris, Entrepreneur
- Eric Motley, Former State Department Official
- Scott Murphy, United States Representative, New York
- Ben Sasse, United States Senator, Nebraska
- Jonathan Shapiro (writer), Emmy Award winning Producer/Writer
- Gaddi Vasquez, Former Director of the Peace Corps
- Scott Walker, 45th Governor of Wisconsin
- Riley Gillis, American infectious disease scientist
See also
References
- ^ Mark, Michelle. "White House photographers took thousands of photos during Trump's first year in office — here are the top 40". Business Insider. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
- ^ a b "About Boys Nation | The American Legion". www.legion.org. Retrieved 2017-04-05.
- ^ Goerger, Tammy. "A Guide to Boys and Girls State". College Vine. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
- ^ a b c "Hurricane student to represent West Virginia at Boys Nation". AP NEWS. 2021-11-28. Archived from the original on 2023-06-20. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
- ^ Oleksinski, Johnny (2020-08-14). "The summer camp that grooms future presidents and governors". Retrieved 2025-04-05.
- ^ "Bill Clinton and John F. Kennedy: The Story Behind Their 1963 Handshake". Biography. 2020-05-26. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
- ^ Guild, Blair (July 26, 2017). "Trump praises his election as "a pretty amazing moment" in history". CBS News. ViacomCBS. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
- ^ "As more women run for office, these teenagers represent the future of civic engagement". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
- ^ "Boys Nation Legislation". American Legion. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
- ^ "Boys Nation Legislation". American Legion. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
External links
- Boys Nation official website
- American Legion website