A senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, John Fonte, shared his insights on American history and culture in a conversation with Michael E. Hartmann. Fonte’s work focuses on citizenship, patriotism, history education, immigration, and international organizations. He has held positions at the American Enterprise Institute and the U.S. Department of Education and served on Newt Gingrich’s foreign-policy team during his 2012 presidential campaign.
Fonte’s book “Sovereignty or Submission” won the Conservative Book of the Year award in 2012. In a recent publication, he argues that “the entirety of the American story or ‘narrative’ is interpreted for Americans by the progressive Left,” which seeks to delegitimize historical America.
In remarks to the Philadelphia Society earlier this year, Fonte described progressivism as a repudiation of American principles and culture. He raised two questions about conservatism: whether it should remain conservative and if it should adopt revolutionary thinking. To these questions, he answered no and yes respectively.
During their discussion, Fonte highlighted changes in liberalism over recent decades and how philanthropy has influenced these shifts. He noted that foundations like Mellon are reimagining U.S. history through projects aimed at altering monuments to figures such as Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson.
“The premise of my speech was we’re more in a revolutionary age than a conservative one,” said Fonte. He discussed how foundations have been promoting ideas contrary to national appreciation for decades.
Fonte criticized Mellon’s $500 million project to reimagine American monuments: “They want to change the Capitol Rotunda… Let’s reimagine American history.” The second part of this conversation will address what conservatives might consider doing in response.
This article first appeared in the Giving Review on June 30, 2025.
