Welcome Remarks for OMG WTF Does the Constitution Actually Say?
September 17, 2020
Greetings from the National Archives. I’m David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, and it's my pleasure to welcome you to today’s author talk with Ben Sheehan on his book OMG WTF Does the Constitution Actually Say?: A Non-Boring Guide to How Our Democracy is Supposed to Work.
Today we celebrate Constitution Day, the day when the delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 signed the new charter for a federal government. The National Archives has a long tradition of marking this anniversary
Even though we can’t be together this Constitution Day, we can focus on the future. In 2026 (six short years from now), we will be celebrating America’s 250th! Two hundred and fifty years since our Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776, jeopardizing their lives, committing treason, and risking everything for American Independence. Without the Declaration, we would not have the U.S. Constitution. This year’s Constitution Day may not look like our usual celebration, but we can look forward to marking the 250th anniversary of the United States as a healthier, stronger, and more perfect Union.
Joining us today for a “plain language” explanation of what’s in the United States Constitution is Ben Sheehan.
A former award-winning executive producer at Funny Or Die, Sheehan has been on a mission to increase voter participation since 2016. In 2018 he founded OMG WTF (standing for “Ohio, Michigan, Georgia, Wisconsin, Texas, Florida”) to teach voters about executive races during the midterm elections. That project generated his book OMG WTF Does the Constitution Actually Say?, an essential primer on how our government was designed to work. Originally from Washington, DC, Sheehan has a B.A. in American Studies and Political Science from Emory University and an M.A. from New York University in Music Business. In 2018 he was named one of the entertainment industry’s “NextGen: 35 Rising Executives Under 35” by the Hollywood Reporter.
Now I’ll turn you over to Ben Sheehan. Thank you for joining us today.