After the Flight 93 Election ― The Vote That Saved America and What We Still Have to Lose

In September 2016, the provocative essay “The Flight 93 Election” galvanized many voters by spotlighting the stakes ahead in November and reproaching complacent elements of the Right. It also drew disparagement from many who judged it too apocalyptic in its assessment of the options facing the electorate.

Its author, Michael Anton—writing as “Publius Decius Mus”—addressed the main criticisms of his argument soon afterward in a “Restatement on Flight 93.” A new criticism emerged later on: that he had painted a dire scenario to be averted, but no positive vision.

Here, Anton presents the positive ideal that inspired him—a distillation of his thinking on Americanism and the West, refined over decades. He lays out the foundational principles of the American and Western traditions, examines the biggest threats to their survival, and underscores the necessity of continuing to defend them.

Michael Anton is Lecturer in Politics and Research Fellow at Hillsdale College’s Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship in Washington, D.C. He has served as deputy assistant to President Trump, and in other political and corporate roles. He is also a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute. His writings have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the Claremont Review of Books, among many other publications. He is the author (as “Nicholas Antongiavanni”) of The Suit: A Machiavellian Approach to Men’s Style (Collins, 2006).