Our Health Policy Matters

A political leader from Minnesota arrived on the national scene with a message of joy, hope, and equality. He grew up in the rural Midwest and became a teacher after he moved to Minnesota. Known as the “happy warrior,” he made civil rights, the health and nutrition of school children, and support for the underprivileged centerpieces of his policy work. When our country and the world was staring at the rise of fascism, he was a patriot who volunteered three times for military service. At the beginning of his campaign for national office, he said: “Here we are, just as we ought to be, here we are, the people, here we are the spirit of dedication, here we are the way politics ought to be in America, the politics of happiness, politics of purpose, politics of joy; and that's the way it's going to be, all the way, too, from here on out. We seek an America able to preserve and nurture all the basic rights of free expression, yet able to reach across the divisions that too often sepa...