Washington Post May 6th 2025 Rahm Emanuel

After returning to the United States from three years as our ambassador in Tokyo, I was keen to speak to undergraduates at West Point and Annapolis, our two oldest military academies. I’d committed to both before accepting invitations from any other institutions, believing Americans dedicated to the nation’s defense should be celebrated as models for others. But soon after arranging visits, I learned the invitations were withdrawn or put on hold indefinitely.

The new administration might be able to censor which books are in the library at the Naval Academy, but Emanuels aren’t silenced so easily. So here, in abbreviated form, is what I’d planned to say about the enduring value of national service and the need for more Americans to participate.

The young men and women enrolled in our service academies are the best of America’s today and tomorrow. Some in my party merely walk through the motions when thanking soldiers and sailors for their service, and we too often forget this is an institution made up of individuals. Everyone my age — anyone old enough to remember how broken the military was after Vietnam — knows that today’s armed services are one of the United States’ greatest-ever turnaround stories.

I saw it repeatedly in Japan: When someone in uniform acted as our face to the world — whether it was the admiral running our forces in Asia, or the captain of any of our surface ships, or a sailor on watch topside — they were, without exception, culturally and historically aware, politically adept and whip-smart. Their savvy is the key to nurturing our nation’s relationships and trust around the globe.

Although the men and women serving in the ranks might be part of the most lethal institutions ever to exist on the face of the Earth, very few of them are “might makes right” individuals. In my experience, they are, to a one, deeply committed to the United States’ principles — the rule of law, personal freedom and a universal respect for self-determination. And they represent the antidote to what many believe has become a central scourge of American life.

This phenomenon first surfaced nearly three decades ago with Robert Putnam’s book “Bowling Alone.” More recently, Jonathan Haidt has raised alarms about the role technology is having on impressionable minds, leaving teens and young adults listless, distracted and unable to focus. Richard Reeves has keyed in on concerns that millions of young men spend their days and nights holed away in their parents’ basements playing video games by themselves.

The common theme is that too many of our young people have come to feel disconnected from their communities. They’ve lost hope in their future and confidence in themselves.

Want to restore confidence in a lost generation? Point them to joining a mission bigger than themselves. Want to rewire the brains of young people diminished by years of scrolling TikTok and Instagram? Assign them something important to do that has meaning in their communities. The ultimate salve for those living lives devoid of moral, professional and spiritual purposes is to immerse them in a culture where the responsibilities that come with citizenship are as sacred and admired as the rights we claim as ordinary citizens. It can’t just be people in the military — 80 percent of whom have relatives who served. We need to revive John F. Kennedy’s admonition that we should ask our young people what they can do for their country.

Since the draft ended more than 50 years ago, several prominent figures have embraced the notion of universal national service. Now, when so many worry that young people are slipping through our fingers, we don’t have time to wait. To approach this with a sense of urgency, everyone should be required to give at least half a year of their lives to their country in ways that weave them into their communities. For every additional six months they serve, the government should cover a semester of public university tuition. By the time every American has turned 30, everyone should have a story to tell of service to their country and their communities.

Not everyone should have to don a uniform to honor our creed — some will serve in AmeriCorps (which President Donald Trump is busy cutting) or Teach for America, or in various states’ conservation corps. But we should be clear now about why national service is essential for our country and for those who serve. Future generations need to be imbued with a sense that the fate of this experiment that will be 250 years old next year rests on their commitment to its core values. Taking responsibility for maintaining the miracle of our democracy should become a rite of passage for every young person. Citizenship has both privileges and responsibilities.

President Bill Clinton said that “there is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America” — and that’s still true. Those who wear a military uniform are the best of the best — but everyone can participate. Serving our country is the vaccine capable of killing the virus that has infected too much of young America.

By Rahm EmanuelRahm Emanuel, the U.S. ambassador to Japan from 2021 to 2025, has served in Congress, as White House chief of staff under President Barack Obama, and as mayor of Chicago.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/05/05/emanuel-draft-service-trump-japan/