WASHINGTON — The American Oath Initiative, a 501(c)4 dedicated to recruiting, training, and supporting veterans who are willing to step forward to seek political office as a means to honoring their Oath to “Defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic” officially launched its efforts (Thursday) in advance of the 2022 elections.
“Veterans are dismayed, frustrated, and discouraged by what is happening to our country,” said Tony Cowden co-founder and national spokesperson for American Oath Initiative upon announcing the organization’s launch. “I’ve spent the last 20 plus years of my life in the special operations community — in the Army and with our Intelligence agencies, fighting America’s enemies. Sadly, nothing I’ve seen in those two-plus decades frightens me as much as what I see happening to the United States, now and especially in the past year. That’s why I’ve stepped forward to found the American Oath Initiative and why so many veterans and friends of friends are joining me.”
AOI is created by and led by military veterans who are committed to honoring their Oath to defend our Constitution. As part of honoring their Oath, they feel called to recruit, support, endorse and help elect other veterans to elected offices at the local, state, and national levels. AOI’s supporters are veterans and friends of veterans from all walks of life who share our belief that to preserve our nation and our freedoms we need to look to those who have risked life and limb to defend them.
“The primary reason our freedoms are deteriorating is while we have far, far too many out-of-touch, career politicians. Couple that with far too few military veterans stepping up to serve and we have a government staffed with people who have no idea what the term “selfless service” even means. We are committed to changing this by recruiting and supporting veterans who have sworn an oath to defend our Constitution and are willing to extend their service beyond the uniform and run for office.”
Currently, there are fewer veterans serving in elected office in the United States than at any time since at least before World War II. There are only 49 combat veterans and only six female veterans serving our nation in Congress today. Twelve states have no veterans among their Congressional delegation. Increasing veteran participation in government will be a large part of how we get our country back on track and preserve our Constitutional.
“I’ve talked to many of my fellow veterans over the last few months,” Cowden concluded. “I keep hearing from them the same thing I feel – ‘I’ve never wanted to get involved in politics, but how do we fix this? If not me then who? If those of us who’ve sworn an oath to defend our constitution don’t step up then who will?’ We can’t just watch with disgust and dismay anymore. It’s time to get involved. It’s time to act.”
