Joe Daniels, who — as the former chief executive of the Medal of Honor Museum, America250, and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum — led and worked on three of the United States’ more patriotic efforts in recent memory, knows a bit about the national allegiance the country can have when it comes together.
The CEO likes to talk about “patriotic philanthropy, people wanting to give to help America achieve its highest ideals.”
“It's really alive and well out there,” Joseph Daniels says. “And that's been the market or the space that I like to operate in.”
But, as most who pay attention to the “national conversation” are aware, things aren’t exactly rosy right now in the home of the red, white, and blue. Severe and rapid changes in social rights, political climate, race relations, and economics have created a divisive environment that’s full of distrust, contention, and fear.
While the country has gone through periods of unrest previously (think the McCarthy era witch hunts, the “Irish Need Not Apply” signs in New York at the turn of the 20th century, ...