In 2012, on his third tour of duty in Afghanistan, Navy Seal Dan Crenshaw had his right eye destroyed and his left blinded by an improvised explosive device. Despite reconstructive surgery, he never recovered more than partial vision. Yet he persevered, going on to complete two more deployments and, in 2018, win election to the U.S. House of Representatives (R.TX). Why? How?

Fortitude, says Congressman Crenshaw, in his new book of the same name, Fortitude: American Resilience in the Era of Outrage. We can become paralyzed by adversity or we can adapt and overcome. We can be fragile, or we can find strength. At a time when our society daily grows more delicate—more obsessed with microaggressions, trigger warnings, and safe spaces—Crenshaw says America needs to reacquire what used to among its greatest virtues: grit. We need to lighten up, toughen up, and address our nation’s problems.

On November 17, MI president Reihan Salam discussed with Congressman Crenshaw how he went from being a self-styled “average American kid” from the Houston suburbs, to the war zones of the world, and to the halls of Congress, navigating his way with a sense of humor and an absolute belief in personal responsibility.

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