California Student Elected President of the 2021 American Legion Boys Nation; Alabama Student Elected Vice President
WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 28, 2021) – Two prominent leaders emerged from The American Legion Boys Nation program Tuesday night.
Ryan Jung, of Irvine, Calif., was elected President of The American Legion Boys Nation at Marymount University for the 2021 program. During the election, which was run as a mock presidential campaign, Jung won against the delegate from Virginia, Dimitrios Owen.
Boys Nation, a signature program of the nation’s largest veterans’ service organization, provides an intensive week-long, hands-on education in American politics and the legislative system for a select group of high school students each year.
An incoming senior at Portola High School, Jung plans on attending Harvard University to pursue a career in law or teaching.
“I thought that I wouldn’t be able to go to sleep at night at the end of the week if I just didn’t go for high office and I didn’t really put 110 percent effort. And I think that (being elected) president, it’s a testament to all that,” Jung said.
Also elected Tuesday night was Boys Nation Vice President Cameron Cummings of Madison, Ala. He defeated Aiden Sanders, also of Alabama. Both vice presidential candidates represented Michigan at Boys Nation. The COVID-19 pandemic forced some departments to cancel or delay their Boys State programs this year, resulting in some delegates randomly selected to represent other departments. Normally, two representatives from each of the 50 Boys States represent their home state or, in the case of the District of Columbia, their district as a senator.
The senators caucus at the beginning of the session, organize into committees and conduct hearings on bills, allowing delegates to learn the proper legislative procedures according to the U.S. Senate. Activities include mock party conventions, legislative elections, debates, speeches and visits to Capitol Hill and other historical sites. Delegates will also visit the offices of their state’s respective members of Congress and present bills of their own creation.
Since Boys Nation began in 1946, a number of its graduates have been elected to public office, including presidents, congressmen, state governors and state legislators.
Department of Minnesota Adjutant’s side note:
The Department of Minnesota was fortunate this year to send four of our Boys States Delegates to Boys Nation this year. There were Departments that cancelled their Boys State programs and that opened up the opportunity for us to add two more boys. The two we added were representatives of the West Virginia delegation.
