Harold Willens

Harold Willens

The Nation lost a dear friend this week–Harold Willens, age 88. Harold was co-founder of a group of business executives against the Vietnam War (he would later recall with delight LBJ’s

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The Nation lost a dear friend this week–Harold Willens, age 88. Harold was co-founder of a group of business executives against the Vietnam War (he would later recall with delight LBJ’s frustration at not being able to dismiss his group as “softheaded”), and at Paul Newman’s suggestion, starting in 1995, he chaired The Nation‘s Circle of 100 shareholders. He was an inspiration, a mobilizer, an organizer, a miracle worker, mentor, adviser and a sweet man. A vivid recent memory: Harold using his walker to get to his car and then driving door to door to drop personal invitations in his friends’ mailboxes to an event where he would put the arm on them on behalf of The Nation. Harold’s death when his beloved country was on the brink of a senseless war should remind us of the difference one man’s life committed to peace can make. It is fitting that an editorial in this issue is by Jonathan Schell, the Nation Institute’s Harold Willens Peace Fellow.

We cannot back down

We now confront a second Trump presidency.

There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.

Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

I urge you to stand with The Nation and donate today.

Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

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