The Hoover Leadership Forum was host to Nebraska senator Ben Sasse on June 2. The senator met with some forty Hoover fellows as part of the ongoing forum that provides an opportunity for our scholars to meet and share their research with policy leaders. The discussion, led by John Taylor, included both domestic and foreign policy issues. Former ambassador to Russia Mike McFaul gave his insights on Russia; Dan Kessler, Caroline Hoxby, and Lanhee Chen discussed provisions in the Affordable Care Act; and former commander of the US Strategic Command, retired admiral Jim Ellis, discussed the US military. Hoover’s Bill Damon, whose current work focuses on how young people develop purpose in their civic, work, and community relationships, shared his research as it relates to Senator Sasse’s new book, The Vanishing American Adult: Our Coming-of-Age Crisis--and How to Rebuild a Culture of Self-Reliance.
Senator Sasse (R-NE) was elected to the US Senate in 2014; he serves on the Armed Services; Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Judiciary; and Joint Economic Committees. Before being elected to the Senate, Sasse was for five years president of Midland University. He was assistant secretary for planning and evaluation in the US Department of Health and Human Services (2007–9) and served as a chief of staff at the Department of Justice (2004–5) and in the Senate (2005). He has also taught at the University of Texas at Austin. Sasse earned his BA at Harvard and PhD at Yale.
