The State of Our Union
5:00 p.m. – Reception
6:00 p.m. – Program and Q&A
8:00 p.m. – President’s Dinner*
Business Attire
* The President’s Dinner is reserved for Claremont Institute Lincoln Society members and up. Click here to learn how Society membership offers unique access to Claremont’s scholars, leadership, and intellectual community.
The Claremont Institute invites you to join us in Irvine, California on August 5th for The State of Our Union—an evening of candid, direct, and very personal reflections from the front lines of the battle to save our country.
Featured speakers include Claremont fellows, alumni, and leaders who are helping shape today’s political moment as we work to usher in a Golden Age of America.
This private event is reserved for Claremont’s closest friends and supporters, and serves also as a special opportunity to meet our 2026 Lincoln Fellows.
Speakers
Rachel Bovard
Vice President of Programs at the Conservative Partnership Institute
Rachel Bovard is the Vice President of Programs at the Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI). She spent over a decade on Capitol Hill in various capacities in the House and Senate, including as Legislative Director to Sen. Rand Paul. She most recently served as the Executive Director of the Senate Steering Committee, the caucus of conservative senators, chaired by Sen. Mike Lee. In 2013, Rachel was named to National Journal’s list of the 35 Most Influential Women in Washington under 35. In 2023, she was named to The Hill’s list of the 25 Staffers Who Make Capitol Hill Run. She is also the recipient of The American Conservative Magazine’s Conservative Mind award. Rachel’s policy analysis and punditry have appeared widely on print and television, including in The Federalist, the New York Times, Fox News, MSNBC, and the New York Post, among other outlets. Along with CPI’s Chairman, Jim DeMint, she is the co-author of Conservative: Knowing What To Keep. She serves on the advisory board of American Moment and on the board of The American Conservative Magazine.
Glenn Ellmers
Salvatori Research Fellow in the American Founding at the Claremont Institute
Glenn Ellmers is the Salvatori Research Fellow in the American Founding at the Claremont Institute and the Winston Churchill Fellow at Encounter Books. He is the author of The Soul of Politics: Harry V. Jaffa and the Fight for America and The Narrow Passage: Plato, Foucault, and the Possibility of Political Philosophy, and the co-editor with Michael Anton of Leisure with Dignity: Essays in Celebration of Charles R. Kesler. He holds a PhD in politics from the Claremont Graduate University. Ellmers has been a visiting research fellow with Hillsdale College, served as a speechwriter for two cabinet secretaries, and has published articles in numerous publications, including the Claremont Review of Books, The New Criterion, Compact, Modern Age, Chronicles, The Review of Metaphysics, and Perspectives on Political Science.
Mike Howell
President of the Oversight Project
Mike Howell is the President of the Oversight Project. He has senior experience from different oversight positions in the Executive Branch, on Capitol Hill, and in representing private parties in oversight and investigation matters. He is a graduate of Duke University and Emory Law School.
Matthew J. Peterson
George Washington Fellow at the Claremont Institute's Center for the American Way of Life
Matthew J. Peterson is the George Washington Fellow at the Claremont Institute's Center for the American Way of Life. He is currently launching two new companies. FORUM, a premier events and media platform, hosts discussion and debate across the right’s new coalition. SENTINEL is an AI-based, autonomous intelligence service tracking local government for activist groups and media entities. In 2021, as cofounder of New Founding, he helped bring talent and capital together to foster new businesses in support of the American way of life, including media products and teams that were acquired by Blaze Media in 2023. He then served as Editor in Chief and a member of the executive team at Blaze until October 2025, where he helped revitalize the company, expanding coverage into investigative reports, opinion, lifestyle, and tech, reviving their DC office and obtaining their first ever White House press pass, starting a new magazine, Frontier, and co-hosting a new daily news show. From 2018 to 2021 Dr. Peterson served as the Vice President of Education at the Claremont Institute, directed their fellowship programs, and founded The American Mind. He is often tapped to give advice on political and cultural media strategy. His career started in education, including a three-year stint assisting in the design, implementation, and evaluation of U.S. Department of Education Teaching American History initiatives, testing thousands of K-12 students and teachers and evaluating scores of programs teaching American political thought, history, and civics. He has taught a variety of courses at various colleges and universities including Claremont McKenna College, Loyola Marymount University, and the School of Public Policy at Pepperdine University. Dr. Peterson is a graduate of Thomas Aquinas College and received his M.A. and Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University. He lives with his wife and four children in Dallas, Texas.
Ryan P. Williams
President of the Claremont Institute
Ryan P. Williams has served as President of The Claremont Institute since 2017, following more than a decade of leadership roles within the organization as Chief Operating Officer, Director of Programs, and Director of Special Projects. A 2004 Publius Fellow, he has been central to shaping Claremont’s strategic direction and expanding its influence as the foremost intellectual institution in American conservatism—revitalizing the Founders’ principles, mentoring rising statesmen, and generating scholarship that shapes national discourse.
Under his leadership, Claremont launched the Center for the American Way of Life in Washington, D.C., its first permanent presence in the nation’s capital, and established The American Mind, a digital publication devoted to recovering and defending American political thought. In 2019, the Institute was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Donald J. Trump, only the second think tank ever to receive this presidential honor.
Mr. Williams holds a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from Hillsdale College and an M.A. in Politics from Claremont Graduate University. He has taught American politics and political philosophy as an adjunct professor at California State University, San Bernardino and Cal Poly Pomona. His commentary and analysis have appeared widely, and he frequently speaks on constitutionalism, statesmanship, and the challenges facing modern American political life.
Under his leadership, Claremont launched the Center for the American Way of Life in Washington, D.C., its first permanent presence in the nation’s capital, and established The American Mind, a digital publication devoted to recovering and defending American political thought. In 2019, the Institute was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Donald J. Trump, only the second think tank ever to receive this presidential honor.
Mr. Williams holds a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from Hillsdale College and an M.A. in Politics from Claremont Graduate University. He has taught American politics and political philosophy as an adjunct professor at California State University, San Bernardino and Cal Poly Pomona. His commentary and analysis have appeared widely, and he frequently speaks on constitutionalism, statesmanship, and the challenges facing modern American political life.
