Kermit Roosevelt III, Constitutional Law Professor and Award-Winning Writer, is May SPEAK EZ Guest

As his name suggests, Kermit Roosevelt III is deeply connected to the fundamental values of America. The great-great-grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt, Kermit is a professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Pennsylvania, an award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction books, and a legal scholar. He is also a keynote speaker adept at discussing everything from the Supreme Court, civil rights, U.S. presidential history, and American politics, to leadership, patriotism, and U.S. current events.

One of his most fascinating views is covered in his latest book, The Nation That Never Was: Reconstructing America’s Story. On his website, the book is described as “a powerful and inspirational reinterpretation of our country’s history and fundamental values. A vision of a nation committed to liberty and equality.”

In the book, Kermit discusses the myth that America’s values today mirror those of the Founding Fathers. He argues, as it says on his website, that, “our fundamental values, particularly equality, are not part of the vision of the Founders. Instead, they were stated in Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and were the hope of Reconstruction, when it was possible to envision the emergence of the nation committed to liberty and equality.”

In a 2016 piece he authored for TIME magazine, Kermit wrote that Theodore Roosevelt was viewed by both sides of the political aisle “as a model of powerful leadership.” Kermit shared a story of how Theodore overcame personal tragedies to emerge stronger and unafraid and compared it to how America has responded to times of crisis and instability since the writing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, including during the Civil War and World War II.

He said, “In each of these cases, it has been the process of struggle, suffering and reinvention that has brought forward the real essence of America. We shouldn’t look to the past because the Founders had all the answers; we should look back to be inspired by the challenges we’ve overcome, and to learn from the mistakes we’ve made.”

Kermit, who was born in Washington, D.C. and attended Harvard University and Yale Law School, is a uniquely knowledgeable and accomplished man. His website bio says he’s among a small group of Super-forecasters who predict political and world events with more accuracy than several of the world’s intelligence services. He uses these unique skills to assist global companies and organizations with their strategic planning.

He is also a member of the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court and the American Law Institute; a board member of the Theodore Roosevelt Library and Museum Foundation, the U.S. Presidential Scholars Foundation, and the National Constitution Center’s Coalition of Freedom; and a distinguished research fellow of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a lecturer for Kaplan Bar Review and prepares students nationwide to take the Constitutional Law portion of the bar exam.

In addition to appearing in TIME, he’s been a frequent op-ed contributor in The New York Times, the Foreign Policy Research Institute, The Washington Times, Newsweek, and The Hill, among many other outlets.