Confronted with a series of seemingly existential challenges – skyrocketing debt, soaring inequality, and an insidious surge in political violence – the American political system today, says Chris Gibson, appears unable to respond. Paralyzed by division, fear, cynicism and dysfunction, our institutions falter.

Gibson, a decorated soldier, former member of Congress, and former Siena College president, argues that the nation’s past offers solutions to our present challenges. Drawing on his new book, The Spirit of Philadelphia, Gibson contends that America’s path forward lies not in rigidly applying 18th-century rules to 21st-century problems, but in recovering the philosophical principles that animated the nation’s founding. The Founders, influenced by both ancient wisdom and Enlightenment thought, struck a balance between liberty and order, individual rights and collective responsibility. Their “Spirit of Philadelphia” embodied balance, moderation, and common sense realism—virtues that made practical compromise and self-government possible in a diverse republic. Gibson argues that by re-embracing these principles and renewing our social contract, we can resist polarization, rebuild trust, and restore the civic health necessary for democracy to flourish. In this talk, Gibson will explore the philosophical traditions behind the American founding, diagnose the cultural and political forces driving today’s dysfunction, and outline a roadmap for civic renewal.

Chris Gibson received his Ph.D. in Government from Cornell in 1998. He had a decorated career in the United States Army’s 82nd Airborne Division. During his military service, Gibson served four combat tours in Iraq, a tour in Kosovo, and was deployed on a humanitarian service mission to Haiti. Among his military awards and decorations are four Bronze Star Medals, the Purple Hart, and the Ranger Tab. Gibson retired from the military in 2010 to run for Congress, and he represented upstate New York in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011-2017. A proponent of term limits, Gibson retired from Congress in 2017. Gibson returned to academia (he had previously taught at West Point and served as a National Security Affairs Fellow with the Hoover Institution during his military service) and served as a distinguished visiting professor at Williams College and the 12th President of Siena College from 2020-2023. In addition to his latest book, The Spirit of Philadelphia (Routledge 2025), Gibson is also the author of Securing the State: Reforming the National Security Decisionmaking Process at the Civil-Military Nexus (Routledge 2008) and Rally Point: Five Tasks to Unite the Country and Reviatlize the American Dream (Twelve Books 2017).

This talk, co-sponsored by the Program on Freedom and Free Societies and Institute of Politics and Global Affairs, is free and open to the general public.

To participate via Zoom use the link

https://cornell.zoom.us/j/93302329212?pwd=7Ys81kVSWIph2c1BKtwyvOhURlAwbW.1

Meeting ID: 933 0232 9212
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