Letters from an American

November 11, 2026 Veterans Day originally marked the armistice that ended World War I, The commemoration was renamed Veterans Day after veterans of WWI and the Korean War had joined the ranks of returning military personnel,Trump delivered a Veterans Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery, although he broke with the tradition of nonpartisan speeches, and also used the day to raise money, At the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where visitors are expected to remain silent, Pete Hegseth was reprimanded by a Tomb Guard, In an article in ProPublica, Eric Umansky documented the dramatic cuts to the VA, the government agency that provides lifelong health and other benefits to veterans and eligible family members, The administration has cut staff, creating severe shortages, and driving veterans into the private sector, The changes contrast dramatically with the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1945 which transformed the lives of returning WWII military personnel, and was the precursor to the GI Bill, Originally conceived of as a defense against recession, it would become an agent for economic growth, The GI Bill would enable veterans to get vocational training or college degrees, and would help four million veterans buy homes, The GI Bill transformed America, moving millions of families into the middle class, although it favored white men, rarely providing benefits to Black and Brown veterans, Despite its faults, the GI Bill did more than any other law in US history to prove that investing in the American people is sound policy. To read this letter, click here: Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify You can also find Heather at: YouTube Bluesky Instagram Facebook Threads TikTok Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

November 10, 2026 Democrats will remain in the minority until January, but are already putting forward measures to address affordability and accountability, A group of Democratic senators are asking that implementation of Medicaid work requirements be postponed, They are asking for financial reforms and plan to push back against bad actors in the financial industry and in crypto ventures, Trump is claiming he had not heard about the relationship between the CEO of Nvidia and a Chinese spy, although intelligence had been shared with him, Kentucky Sen Thomas Massie filed eight articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Hegseth claimed the impeachment effort was political and noted that everything he did was "ordered by the commander in chief,” CNN reports that “multiple” whistleblowers have warned that administration officials are destroying records, Trump’s elevation of Stephen Miller to WH chief of staff will amplify Trump’s impulses, Attorney General Todd Blanche doubled down on the idea that he would consider prosecuting Democrats for saying they plan to enforce accountability, House Republicans elected Rep Jim Jordan of Ohio to lead their conference, Republicans demonstrated their loyalty to Trump by voting to end Massie's impeachment measure, Hearings that will be held when the Democrats take control of Congress will expose the details of Hegseth’s tenure at the Defense Department. To read this letter, click here: Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify You can also find Heather at: YouTube Bluesky Instagram Facebook Threads TikTok Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

November 8, 2026 Trump's posts suggest that any plans to investigate the administration are crimes, Congressional Democrats are hiring former career prosecutors to join the investigative staffs of committees, After the Civil War, General Ulysses S. Grant allowed Confederate soldiers to go home, a humanitarian gesture that was also practical, Northerners believed that it was the political leaders who should be punished, But President Andrew Johnson pardoned many those leaders, who would not face accountability for their attack on the US, They claimed Grant’s clemency was proof that the Confederate ideology was right all along, Racism and rebellion carried forward for more than a century, The same partisan reworking of history took place after Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon after Watergate, Nixon never accepted responsibility, saying “When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal,” During Ronald Reagan’s administration, the theory of the “unitary executive” took this further, It claimed that neither Congress nor the courts could check the president, While serving as head of the Office of Legal Counsel for President George H.W. Bush, William Barr, who later was the attorney general in Trump’s first administration, warned of “legislative encroachments” on the president’s authority, In Trump v United States, the Supreme Court ruled that "a president has absolute immunity from criminal prosecution" for actions deemed part of his official responsibilities, Now, with the prospect of investigations into behavior that might fall outside his official duties, Trump is arguing that enforcing the rule of law is a partisan attack, It is the opposite, and is the fundamental rule under which the American government was conceived. To read this letter, click here: Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify You can also find Heather at: YouTube Bluesky Instagram Facebook Threads TikTok Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

November 7, 2026 Senator-elect James Talarico of Texas gave a victory speech that recalled an era when Americans worked together to defend their country against those who would take its wealth and power for themselves, He leaned into his own religious faith, his history as a middle-school teacher and as the son of a single mother, telling the crowd that his life has taught him to always bet on the underdog, And in Texas against all odds, his movement took their power back, He said, “this win is for every underdog who’s been counted out and left behind…and for every Texan who’s ever wondered if anyone is listening.,” He went on to say that “the billionaires who … own the politicians fighting on our screens … want us focused on how we’re different instead of on how we’re the same,” He continued, “… tonight we sent a crystal clear message to the people at the top. We will not be conquered,” Explaining how Democrats had won Texas, he said, “the world changes person to person, neighbor to neighbor,” And he said, “We won this race because people who are desperate for change now are going to get change…. a new politics is being born through each of us,” Talarico, who won his race by an astonishing 12 points, identified the threat that this new politics poses to establishment politics, especially MAGA, Trump highlighted his need for division and hatred, offering the job of White House press secretary to the CEO of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, whom Trump described as a “violent fighter and warrior.” To read this letter, click here: Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify You can also find Heather at: YouTube Bluesky Instagram Facebook Threads TikTok Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe

November 6, 2026 On Tuesday, Americans rejected the Trump administration, They voted to end corruption, end Trump’s war on Iran, end costly tariffs, and end masked agents kidnapping Black and Brown people off the streets, They voted for a country based on the rule of law, and for the multicultural country mocked by Trump and his loyalists, Hispanic voters swung back toward the Democrats, Black voters turned out in unusually high nmbers, voting for Democrats at higher rates than in 2024, Trump initially appeared dazed by the rebuke, but he woke up, ousting Susie Wiles as chief of staff and replacing her with Stephen Miller, Miller, a fervent white nationalist, has been a powerful force in the White House, Miller hsa been central to undermining disability rights, Miller is also a supporter of Russia and its war against Ukraine, Elevating Miller signals that Trump doesn’t care what Americans want, and a warning to Repubicans to stay in line. To read this letter, click here: Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on Spotify You can also find Heather at: YouTube Bluesky Instagram Facebook Threads TikTok Get full access to Letters from an American at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/subscribe