00:11 - Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,

00:13 - and welcome to the 2026 Alice Pope Shade Lecture.

00:17 - My name is Jeff Mann.

00:19 - As Department head for religious studies.

00:21 - I'm very pleased to welcome all of you here this evening to the Einstein Theater.

00:26 - One of the great privileges and joys of my life

00:28 - has been to meet people from many different walks of life,

00:31 - with vastly different experiences, and with various lenses through

00:35 - which they view the world.

00:37 - Today I had another one of those opportunities

00:39 - welcoming this evening's presenter to our campus.

00:43 - Michael Richard Pence was born in 1959, in Columbus, Indiana,

00:47 - and is one of the proudest Hoosiers you'll ever meet.

00:51 - A graduate of Columbus North High School, a history major

00:54 - at Hanover College, and an alumnus of Indiana Law School.

00:58 - His professional career has extended from working at Ray's

01:00 - Marathon Full-Service gas Station to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

01:06 - He first held elected office as a Congressman in the U.S.

01:08 - House of Representatives, before serving as the 50th Governor of Indiana.

01:14 - Stepping down from that role, he was nominated by the Republican Party

01:17 - and elected

01:18 - by the people of the United States to the Vice presidency of our nation.

01:23 - In 2022, Pence's

01:25 - policy organization, Advancing American Freedom, announced its Freedom Agenda,

01:30 - a vision for restoring Freedom, providing a clear set of ideas for economic

01:34 - opportunity, American strength, and leadership on the world stage.

01:39 - His autobiography, So Help Me God, was published in 2022,

01:43 - and the second book, Go Home for dinner,

01:46 - was published in 2023.

01:49 - His third book, What Conservatives Believe, will be published later

01:52 - this year.

01:55 - This honor of having Mike pence here

01:57 - this evening is due to the generosity of Rebecca and Jack Minow.

02:01 - Rebecca minow is an

02:02 - alumna of Susquehanna and of Susquehanna University.

02:05 - Class of 1954.

02:08 - She and her husband, Jack, established the Alice Polk Shade Fund, naming it in

02:12 - honor of her mother

02:13 - in order to promote the study of religion and enrich our understanding of it.

02:16 - It has served this purpose primarily by bringing to campus renowned

02:20 - speakers whose work and lives resonate with religious concerns.

02:24 - Jack Mineo passed away in 2019 at the age of 88.

02:29 - Rebecca is here with us this evening,

02:32 - and would you all be so kind as to join me in extending our

02:34 - thanks for her to her, for making this signature event

02:37 - such a wonderful part of Susquehanna Legacy?

02:56 - It is because of the support of the Mineo's that Susquehanna students

02:59 - and this community will continue to enjoy the benefit of this gift for generations.

03:05 - A quick word about the plan for this evening.

03:07 - We will have roughly 30 minutes of moderated discussion,

03:10 - followed by an extended Q&A session of roughly the same time.

03:14 - I know this will disappoint some of you, but we are limiting questions

03:18 - to students alone.

03:19 - They have always been the primary focus of this educational event.

03:24 - I was encouraged to make a few remarks

03:26 - here at the beginning about expectations for proper conduct this evening.

03:29 - However, in my experience, Susquehanna students and members of our community

03:34 - already know very well how to engage thoughtfully and critically

03:37 - with others ideas, even ones they may disagree with strongly.

03:41 - They have the maturity and critical thinking skills to know

03:44 - that the best response to ideas

03:45 - one opposes is to make an even better case for one's own position.

03:49 - And so I don't believe any such directions will be necessary.

03:53 - However, I will remind you to please silence

03:56 - and turn off your electronic devices,

03:58 - and then to join me in welcoming the honorable Mike pence,

04:01 - 48th Vice President of these United States.

04:30 - Welcome to our campus.

04:32 - It's a pleasure to have you here this evening.

04:34 - And I hope the weather wasn't too much of a deterrent

04:37 - in getting you here from Indiana this morning.

04:39 - No, we we didn't get the two feet of snow that we got two weeks ago.

04:43 - So I was able to make it.

04:45 - And, let me just begin by saying it's

04:47 - a great honor to be here at Cisco Hanna University.

04:51 - And I'm very humbled to be a part of the Alice Pope Shade

04:54 - Lecture series, which is literally known across the country.

04:58 - And allow me to also add my voice of thanks not only to,

05:03 - President Green, to you, Doctor Mann, but,

05:06 - I just had a delightful dinner with, Rebecca minow, the patron

05:11 - who has made this extraordinary tradition possible, along with her late husband.

05:16 - So, Rebecca, wherever you are seated.

05:19 - Thank you so much for all you've meant to, Cecil Hanna.

05:22 - And to broadening the public debate in America.

05:26 - God bless you.

05:29 - So people often say that we should steer away

05:31 - from discussions of religion and politics while in polite company.

05:35 - But what do you say we dive right in?

05:40 - You've been very forthright about the importance of prayer

05:42 - in your life and your autobiography.

05:44 - You write about praying for others, praying for strength,

05:47 - and praying for guidance when it comes to praying for guidance,

05:51 - asking God what to do in a difficult situation.

05:54 - How do we know an answer is truly from God and not

05:56 - perhaps just our own subconscious desires?

06:00 - Well, Jeff, thanks for starting with an easy

06:02 - question.

06:05 - It's a it's a profound one.

06:07 - And, what I would have expected from,

06:10 - professor of religious studies.

06:14 - Let me just say I appreciate you

06:16 - acknowledging, my faith. I'm,

06:20 - for me, I hope,

06:22 - people that know

06:23 - me and know my family know that, my faith in Jesus Christ is,

06:28 - the most important thing in my life.

06:30 - Then comes my family, then comes,

06:33 - my values and my call to public service.

06:37 - It wasn't always true, though.

06:38 - I actually, I started, in, in politics,

06:44 - at a very young age.

06:46 - But as a freshman in college,

06:50 - I had really lost interest in religion altogether.

06:53 - I'd had a little bit of social success in high school,

06:56 - and I decided that religion was just a crutch that some people needed.

07:00 - I wasn't going to put them down for it, but,

07:03 - it wasn't something that I really needed in my life.

07:06 - But it was at that time at a school not not too different from Susquehanna

07:10 - University.

07:11 - Small liberal arts college,

07:13 - on the Ohio River in southern Indiana, that, I began to meet

07:17 - some young people who just talked to me, not about their denomination,

07:21 - but, they just talked to me about

07:24 - about being Christian,

07:27 - having a personal relationship with God.

07:30 - And over the course of my freshman year, I began, for the first time in my life

07:34 - to begin to open the Bible and to really read it for myself.

07:40 - And it was in that time that I, I felt I felt,

07:44 - drawn to,

07:47 - not just the truth of the scriptures, but,

07:50 - but also to,

07:53 - a great sense in my life, that,

07:57 - that I was missing something.

07:59 - And it was at a in the in the spring

08:01 - at a Christian music festival at Asbury University in 1978 that,

08:07 - I was like, I heard the words for the first time

08:09 - that God so loved the world, that he sent his only begotten son, that

08:12 - whoever might believe in him might not perish but have everlasting life.

08:16 - And I remember I stood up on that rainy night on Saturday night, and I,

08:20 - I walk down and I pray to prayer.

08:23 - To, accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

08:27 - And I hope, in the course of my life where I've often described myself

08:31 - as a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order.

08:35 - I hope mostly

08:37 - the way that my faith has impacted me is,

08:41 - the way that I have aspired to treat others.

08:44 - You know, politics too often is,

08:47 - it's not so much,

08:49 - do unto others as you'd have them do unto you.

08:51 - In politics, it's more like do unto others before they do unto you.

08:57 - And I went through that season

08:58 - myself, even as, as a young man, still young in my faith.

09:02 - And one of my career started down, I ran

09:05 - some campaigns that I ultimately regretted. But,

09:08 - when it came back around, we just determined that we would,

09:13 - try and carry ourselves in the public square in a way, first, that honored God.

09:17 - Second,

09:19 - that, stood for things more important

09:21 - than our election and finally was about winning.

09:24 - And, over the course of our 20 year career as a congressman, as a governor,

09:29 - and ultimately as vice president, we sought to live that out

09:33 - to the best of our ability and by God's grace.

09:37 - I believe we largely did.

09:42 - Today in our country, there's a lot of concern

09:44 - about Christian nationalism, and that's a hard group to define.

09:49 - I think often and quite unfairly, in my opinion,

09:52 - run of the mill conservative Christians get lumped in with them.

09:55 - Nevertheless, there does seem to be a distinct group

09:58 - rising influence that can be called Christian nationalists.

10:02 - How do you differentiate this group from others,

10:04 - and are you concerned about their growing influence?

10:08 - Well, I see the term in the media

10:10 - and to some extent online, and

10:14 - but I must tell you, as I've traveled around the country over the last

10:17 - five years,

10:20 - I think there are different cross-currents at work.

10:24 - I think the Christian community in America is strong and vibrant

10:28 - and growing, as are other faith communities in the country.

10:32 - But, but I, I can't, you know, I can't tell you that

10:37 - I've had much experience or, apart from,

10:41 - reading online words of that,

10:45 - that type of thinking.

10:46 - I do think and it's a topic of, of my forthcoming book.

10:51 - I do think that the Republican Party

10:54 - today is going through,

10:57 - a bit of an internal debate over whether we're going to stay true

11:01 - to a traditional conservative agenda

11:04 - that's defined our party since the days of Ronald Reagan,

11:08 - or whether, as I like to say, whether we're going to follow the siren

11:10 - song of populism unmoored the conservative principle,

11:15 - and, whether it falls in the category of the groups,

11:19 - or the, the label that you described or not, I think there is a populist,

11:24 - movement afoot, within Republican ranks

11:28 - that embraces, more isolationist thinking.

11:33 - Really questions whether America

11:35 - should continue to be the leader of the free world.

11:38 - There's, an embrace of,

11:42 - of of policies that are in many ways antithetical to the Republican Party's

11:47 - long term commitment to free enterprise and free market economics.

11:51 - And there's also the marginalizing of the right to life and other

11:54 - traditional values that that have been very central to our movement.

11:59 - So I tend to think looking forward in the party, I think 2028

12:03 - is going to be more about what we're for rather than who were for,

12:08 - and I think there's very similar tension and fissures are forming,

12:13 - in, in Democratic ranks as well as there are many on the,

12:17 - that embrace a socialist worldview and the politics of, of the left.

12:23 - While there are still many

12:24 - Americans who would describe themselves as traditional Democrats.

12:28 - So I think it's a dynamic time in the life of American politics.

12:32 - And, but for my part, you know, I actually started in politics as a Democrat.

12:37 - I was a,

12:39 - I was the Youth Democrat party coordinator

12:42 - in Bartholomew County, Indiana, in 1975.

12:48 - I remember, I had,

12:51 - sometimes I tell my conservative friends that I voted for Jimmy Carter

12:55 - and they say, well, everybody voted for Carter in 1976.

13:00 - I said, no, I voted for him in 1980. So.

13:05 - When I told President Carter that when we met,

13:07 - he was a little surprised, by the.

13:11 - But in Ronald Reagan, I identified with the kind of principles

13:15 - and kind of southern Indiana conservatism that I'd been raised

13:19 - in, and I joined the Republican Party, but I joined because of principles.

13:24 - I didn't join because of of, any deep heritage.

13:28 - My family wasn't particularly political.

13:30 - But, so I think it it for either political party in America,

13:35 - we always do well, when we make it more about principles than about personality.

13:40 - You spoke earlier today with

13:42 - students about this, this division within the Republican Party

13:45 - of classic conservativism, versus more of a populist movement.

13:49 - Do you think that's mostly about

13:51 - economics, or is there a social aspect to that division as well?

13:56 - Well, I think a lot of it has to do with,

13:59 - size and scope of government.

14:01 - But I think that chiefly it gives its its expression in,

14:05 - in a willingness to kind of thinking more,

14:10 - isolationist terms.

14:12 - I mean, for my part, I,

14:15 - we've now marked four years since Russia's

14:18 - brutal and unprovoked invasion in Ukraine.

14:21 - And I've been unwavering in, in my belief

14:26 - that the United States and Western nations need to continue to give Ukraine

14:30 - the resources that they need to defeat the Russian military

14:35 - and reclaim their sovereignty.

14:37 - Now, there are those.

14:44 - There are those in Republican ranks who have questioned that,

14:47 - who actually advocated cutting off all funding to Ukraine.

14:51 - But, I've met Vladimir Putin, and I can tell you, I have no doubt in my mind

14:56 - if Vladimir Putin overruns Ukraine, it's just going to be a matter of time

14:59 - before he crosses a country that our military

15:03 - is going to have to deal with it.

15:05 - And so, there's even those that are questioning

15:08 - our historic support and our relationship with Israel.

15:12 - Sometimes they're even some voices on the fringes that that speak

15:17 - in very dark, terms about American support for Israel,

15:22 - and the role of Jewish Americans in the life of our nation.

15:25 - And so I think it begins at the isolationist.

15:28 - But I also think the the principles

15:31 - of limited government, it seems like the Republican Party doesn't

15:35 - talk very much anymore about a $38 trillion national debt,

15:40 - and the need to,

15:41 - to bring common sense reforms to spare,

15:45 - our kids and our grandkids of that

15:48 - of the consequences of a mountain range of debt.

15:51 - And lastly, well, while our administration in our four years,

15:54 - we've cut taxes, rolled back regulations,

15:58 - you know, we've seen in this administration,

16:02 - you know, the expansion of border taxes

16:05 - in the form of tariffs, nationalizing, American companies.

16:10 - I think more than a dozen companies.

16:11 - Now, the government has taken a public position in,

16:17 - and so it's it's that that,

16:20 - it's kind of isolationism, big government,

16:23 - republicanism that I think are the largest departures.

16:26 - I will say, though,

16:29 - during our administration, we use tariffs under

16:31 - existing statutory authority,

16:34 - to really try and

16:36 - negotiate down trade barriers.

16:38 - We actually I'm proud to say we use that we use tariffs in the Trump Pence years.

16:43 - And the threat of tariffs,

16:45 - to bring trading partners to the table.

16:48 - We imposed tariffs on China and ultimately achieved

16:52 - the first breakthrough in trade negotiations with China in a generation.

16:57 - But I took, great exception when a year ago, President Trump

17:02 - announced tariffs against friend and foe alike

17:04 - under an emergency statute.

17:07 - Our small foundation in Washington, DC, was one of a handful of groups

17:12 - that that labored in the courts in support of legal challenges.

17:17 - I believe the Constitution is quite clear that

17:19 - when it comes to taxes and tariffs,

17:23 - those are originated in the Congress.

17:26 - I don't need to tell people in Pennsylvania,

17:28 - we're coming up on a very memorable anniversary.

17:31 - 250 years since the American founding, a declaration of independence

17:37 - crafted just down the road from here.

17:40 - And you might remember, the taxation without representation

17:42 - was a big part of that.

17:44 - And as I reminded some of those students here at Susquehanna today,

17:48 - the tea that went into Boston Harbor was thrown into Boston Harbor

17:51 - because of tariffs

17:54 - that had been imposed on by one person.

17:56 - And so when the founders ultimately

17:58 - crafted the form of government that's endured for 239 years,

18:02 - they said that the Congress in article one controls

18:06 - taxation, including imposts that are what they called tariffs in the day.

18:12 - And I strongly and heartily welcome the decision by the Supreme Court

18:17 - of the United States to uphold the separation of powers and turn back

18:22 - President Trump's Liberation Day regime of tariffs.

18:25 - I think it's a relief for American businesses,

18:28 - American workers,

18:31 - and a great affirmation of our constitutional order.

18:36 - So here's the

18:37 - no holds barred question that I know more than a few people

18:40 - may want to may have on their minds.

18:43 - During your political career, you opposed gay marriage,

18:46 - believing that marriage should only be a union between a man and a woman.

18:49 - This conviction, if I'm not mistaken, arises from your faith

18:52 - and your belief in the authority of the scriptures.

18:55 - How do you reply to those people who say that your opposition to gay marriage

18:58 - is a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment?

19:02 - And for those in our audience who are trying to quickly

19:04 - to remember what they learned in a push, the Establishment Clause reads, Congress

19:08 - shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.

19:14 - Well, it's you're right. I'm.

19:16 - I'm someone I'll always believe that,

19:19 - the marriage is between one man and one woman.

19:23 - But the Supreme Court of the United States,

19:29 - Ruled otherwise about a decade ago.

19:33 - And as I said at the time when I was governor of Indiana,

19:36 - we can disagree with the Supreme Court, but we can't disobey it.

19:40 - And it's part of the supreme law of the land.

19:43 - That being said, I'll always hold to those convictions myself.

19:46 - And I think the issue actually is not the first part

19:50 - of the First Amendment, but it's the second part

19:53 - because the First Amendment reads that their Congress shall make

19:56 - no law respecting the establishment of religion,

19:59 - or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

20:03 - And if you go back and you read that decision, the over fell decision.

20:06 - Justice Kennedy, who I

20:09 - I know

20:11 - wrote that opinion and in recognizing same sex marriage

20:15 - in the same opinion, he said, now future courts will have to make decisions

20:21 - to ensure that this ruling does not intrude upon the free exercise

20:26 - of religion of Americans, who otherwise may hold a different view.

20:31 - And I must tell you, having had our administration

20:33 - appoint three justices to that, a Supreme Court,

20:38 - I've been very

20:39 - encouraged over the last ten years.

20:42 - Doctor Mann and the ways that the Supreme Court has drawn that line,

20:47 - to essentially ensure,

20:50 - well, while respecting

20:52 - the decision that the court made with regard to gay marriage.

20:56 - At the same time, you've seen one decision after another that really has

21:00 - recognized and respected,

21:03 - the right of conscience of Americans

21:05 - to hold a different view,

21:08 - and and not to be placed in a, in a position where they,

21:12 - they, they would have their religious convictions intruded upon.

21:15 - So to me, where the the debate over, gay marriage,

21:19 - I'll always hold the values that I hold and believe them from my heart.

21:23 - As a Bible believing Christian.

21:26 - But, I do think going forward, the key now on our side is ensure that we,

21:33 - that, that

21:34 - no one is ever discriminated against for

21:37 - for who they are or who they love or what they believe.

21:40 - And that's the balance.

21:41 - I think that ultimately the Supreme Court has struck that respect for belief

21:46 - and respect for people's individual lives ultimately is,

21:51 - is the result of that decision.

21:56 - In your autobiography, you wrote about negative campaigning early

21:59 - in your career, and you talked about that earlier this afternoon.

22:02 - You wrote after, a campaign that was a little more vitriolic than you said.

22:07 - I had come to understand that

22:08 - negative campaigning is wrong for a number of reasons.

22:11 - But first among them is the fact that it deprives voters of the opportunity

22:15 - to little to deliberate on the issues critical to their daily lives.

22:19 - As I read that,

22:19 - I know, and I and I know many others really appreciate that,

22:22 - I wish we would see far more of that, in our nation's politics

22:26 - and among our conversations with one another.

22:29 - However, what do

22:30 - you say to those who agree with you fundamentally,

22:33 - with respect to that decision, but then wonder why you partnered with someone

22:37 - who was known for not always taking the high

22:40 - road?

22:44 - Not always.

22:48 - Well, for me and I look,

22:50 - I believe that democracy depends on heavy doses of civility.

22:55 - And I think the American people long for us to restore

22:57 - a threshold of civility in public life.

23:01 - And I intend to be a part of that

23:03 - one way or the other.

23:06 - The reason I joined the ticket in 2016

23:08 - ultimately came down to,

23:12 - the question for me

23:14 - and for my family was whether we thought we could help the country,

23:17 - and I, I was,

23:19 - I was a member of Congress for 12 years, a number of years

23:23 - under the Obama administration, and then also,

23:27 - in the I was served as a

23:28 - governor in those years, and I knew that we needed a change in the country.

23:32 - I wanted to get back to pro-growth policies, a strong military, appointments

23:38 - to the court that would respect our core values, especially the right to life.

23:43 - And so, sitting down with Donald Trump in the summer of 2016,

23:47 - we we talked about the agenda that he had aspired to advance.

23:52 - And, hearing that and knowing the experience that I could bring to it, I,

23:58 - I joined the ticket without hesitation. And,

24:01 - you know, and, some people think Donald

24:05 - Trump and I are a little bit different,

24:09 - and I acknowledge that,

24:11 - but, look, I always had the view that the American

24:13 - people choose the American president.

24:16 - And as vice president for four years,

24:20 - I saw it as my

24:21 - role to help President Trump be successful.

24:25 - And at advancing the agenda

24:28 - that he was elected, to advance,

24:32 - and were what are our styles

24:34 - and our approaches differed?

24:37 - I just yielded to the collective

24:39 - judgment of the American people that put him in that role.

24:43 - And I must tell you, I'll say without hesitation that,

24:46 - you know, our administration didn't in the way I wanted it to.

24:51 - But, for the course of those

24:54 - first four years, up until a difficult day

24:57 - five years ago,

25:00 - I'm incredibly proud of the record of the Trump administration.

25:03 - And, and I will tell all of you, I just want to say that

25:07 - I want to thank you for the privilege of serving as your vice president

25:10 - was the greatest honor of my life.

25:21 - At times in our

25:22 - at times in our lives, we find ourselves in a position

25:25 - where doing the right thing is going to be very difficult,

25:28 - with plenty of unpleasant consequences to follow.

25:31 - And you know this as well as anyone.

25:34 - How do we cultivate the necessary virtues in ourselves so that we have the strength

25:38 - to stand up and do what is right, even in the face of tremendous

25:41 - opposition?

25:45 - Well, doctor, man, I'm

25:46 - I'm humbled to be associated with that.

25:50 - And your question

25:52 - and I'll just I'll just say what I told young people

25:55 - here at Susquehanna earlier this afternoon.

25:59 - You know, there's something going around in this generation.

26:02 - I know I heard it from my kids who are all in their early 30s now, but

26:06 - it's this idea that,

26:08 - adversity creates character.

26:12 - I mean, the way the young people put it is they say, all right,

26:15 - you know, whatever doesn't kill me makes me stronger.

26:18 - Right?

26:20 - Well, I have a very different view.

26:22 - I think whatever doesn't kill you just didn't kill you.

26:27 - Adversity doesn't create character.

26:31 - Adversity reveals character.

26:35 - And when your time of testing comes,

26:37 - and it comes for all of us in big ways and in small ways,

26:41 - when your time of testing comes, you're going to be the man or woman

26:45 - you've been preparing to be in every quiet moment before the.

26:49 - I really believe that,

26:51 - and I appreciate so much you mention my autobiography.

26:54 - It's entitled so Help Me God.

26:58 - And it's available on Amazon.com.

27:00 - And we're all good books are sold.

27:05 - But in the book

27:07 - you could read in those early days of my political life,

27:10 - even though I'd come to faith in Jesus Christ,

27:13 - even though I was a professing Christian, even though I believe

27:16 - you should, you should treat others the way you want to be.

27:19 - True, I got caught up in negative politics and not one, but two campaigns,

27:25 - and it would basically,

27:27 - exclude me from politics.

27:29 - For a decade I was in the wilderness in Indiana for a decade,

27:33 - never thinking I'd go back to to elective politics.

27:38 - And so when Karen and I made the decision with three young children

27:41 - to step forward and run again in the year 2000,

27:45 - we just determined we're we're going to we're going to work every day to

27:49 - to run and to carry ourselves in a way that honors God and forms a debate

27:54 - and then worries about winning and losing after that. And,

27:58 - I think that

27:59 - the habits that we develop in our life are the habits of consistency,

28:04 - the principle, whatever your principles are, the ability to have integrity.

28:08 - The principle, I think, comes from,

28:11 - developing the practice

28:14 - and the use, of those principles. And,

28:18 - whatever we did in our career, particularly,

28:21 - on that in that difficult time five years ago,

28:25 - I give was all due to God's grace, but also for me,

28:30 - it was owing to, lessons learned along the way.

28:34 - And, and hopefully, the practice of,

28:39 - of trying to be a man of my word

28:42 - along those lines, as I mentioned at dinner,

28:44 - the first thing I learned about you and opening up

28:46 - your autobiography is when I opened it up and saw a picture of your father,

28:49 - who was, wearing a Thunderbird patch on his shoulder, his 45th Infantry Division.

28:54 - And I was rather excited because my father was also the 45th Infantry Division.

28:59 - Also combat infantry.

29:00 - Also bronze, bronze star medalist.

29:05 - I hope that didn't.

29:06 - Well, I'm sure my dad would be proud.

29:08 - Our dads would both be proud of of us.

29:11 - But what struck me, reading through your autobiography,

29:15 - and reflecting on the similarity with my own father,

29:18 - is you talked about how when you were going through some rather

29:21 - difficult times in life, as we all do, and you faced some rather

29:24 - difficult circumstances reflecting on what your father had to deal

29:27 - with, his sacrifices, the sacrifices of the people around him.

29:31 - I'm wondering if you could comment on the role that, as you talked about

29:35 - in your autobiography, the role that your father, played in helping you

29:39 - remember the importance of standing, standing strong in the face of adversity,

29:44 - given the different type of adversity that both of our fathers faced?

29:48 - Well, Jeff, like your dad, my dad was a combat veteran.

29:52 - Your dad was in World War two.

29:53 - My dad was also in the Korean War.

29:57 - And he he raised me and my three brothers.

29:59 - He was a drill instructor in the military.

30:01 - And I never changed. So

30:06 - that my three brothers, who are all very close to this day,

30:10 - were raised, with the pretty traditional, discipline.

30:15 - My mom, who's,

30:18 - Rebecca menu and I were chatting.

30:20 - My mom is, 94 years young,

30:24 - second generation Irish American.

30:25 - She's a handful. I'm telling you.

30:28 - I told Rebecca she'd like her.

30:31 - But dad raised us with some some basic principles.

30:34 - One was, dad said, you know,

30:38 - he wasn't much of a Bible quota.

30:40 - He was a man of deep faith. But he'd say

30:44 - something he learned in the foxholes in

30:45 - Korea was not my will, but thine be done.

30:49 - And he lived that throughout his life.

30:50 - When he, before he left us

30:52 - two young,

30:55 - but the other one,

30:56 - the other one was just a deep sense of duty.

30:59 - My, my dad really lived the American dream.

31:02 - He he, came up from nothing.

31:04 - He came back from the war, and

31:05 - and he ended up building up a gas station business in southern Indiana.

31:09 - He married this immigrant daughter, Irish immigrants, daughter.

31:14 - They followed work down to southern Indiana and,

31:18 - dad also had one other verse that he always told us

31:22 - it was to whom much is given, much will be required.

31:26 - We felt like our family had been blessed in so many ways that,

31:31 - we had a duty

31:32 - to do our part in our time. And,

31:36 - I'm very proud of the fact that,

31:39 - Well, neither Karen or I served in the military.

31:42 - My son's a major in the United States Marine Corps today, and,

31:51 - And one of my unworthy son in law

31:53 - is a lieutenant commander in the United States Navy.

31:58 - So I think somewhere along the way, duty.

32:04 - Duty got sewn into my family, just like yours.

32:07 - And it's,

32:10 - And I hope looking at my career,

32:13 - in the ordinary times and in the challenging times that that was,

32:18 - the core of, what I tried to be and do,

32:23 - you know, the title of my book.

32:24 - So Help me God comes from the end of my oath of office.

32:29 - It's the same oath of office that any law

32:32 - enforcement personnel who are with us today take.

32:35 - It's the same office.

32:37 - Every member of our military takes the same oath that,

32:41 - elected officials all the way up to the vice president, the president

32:44 - take it to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

32:51 - And it ends with a prayer.

32:52 - So help me God. And,

32:57 - and my most challenging,

33:01 - Moments.

33:05 - I kept coming back to that, to the fact

33:08 - that the people who take that oath when when your dad was,

33:13 - with 45th Infantry

33:15 - bound in combat, he had taken the same oath.

33:19 - And when he got an order, he didn't ask,

33:22 - how's that going to work out for me?

33:25 - He didn't say.

33:27 - He didn't say,

33:29 - general, I understand that, but I don't think that's going

33:32 - to be good for my long term future.

33:35 - Right.

33:35 - When my son, who's a fighter pilot in the Marine Corps, when he.

33:38 - When he gets an order to go,

33:41 - he doesn't think about what it means to him.

33:42 - He took an oath.

33:44 - And I love where the Bible says he keeps his oath even when it hurts.

33:48 - And I know something about that.

33:50 - But to me, the the genius of the American experiment,

33:54 - the character of the American Constitution is in the character

33:58 - of the American people.

34:01 - And and we are

34:02 - 239 years since the Constitution

34:05 - was adopted, and counting of men and women

34:08 - who have kept their oath in good times and bad.

34:13 - And I believe that it's that's ultimately the strength

34:16 - and the hope of our nation for years to come.

34:21 - Thank you.

34:28 - At this point in the evening,

34:29 - we would like to turn the floor over to you, the students in our audience.

34:33 - We have microphones in both, aisles on the steps.

34:36 - I believe, ready to go.

34:38 - And so feel free to form a line at each one.

34:41 - I suspect that there may be many of you who want to ask questions,

34:44 - so please respect others

34:45 - by avoiding speeches at the microphones as well as follow up questions.

34:49 - But if the students would, who would like to ask a question

34:52 - would go ahead and approach those microphones so we can get started?

35:08 - Okay.

35:11 - Fernando, is that you?

35:14 - Okay.

35:15 - Looks like you got there first.

35:18 - Yeah.

35:19 - Just wanted to say, thank you, Mr.

35:21 - Pence, for coming here tonight.

35:22 - Yeah. Thank you.

35:24 - So, yeah, just just, like, basic question that I was wondering, but, Yeah.

35:29 - Just draw out your entire political career.

35:32 - What would you say was, the greatest thing that was motivating you

35:36 - to serving, this country?

35:39 - And what would you say is probably the best moment

35:42 - in your career?

35:45 - The second part was,

35:47 - just what was your what would you consider as the best moment

35:50 - in your political career? And.

35:54 - Well, you gotta understand, I'm the grandson of the namesake

35:57 - of an Irish immigrant.

35:59 - My grandfather got off a boat on Ellis Island

36:02 - in 1923,

36:05 - took a train to Chicago, Illinois, drove a bus for 40 years or so.

36:10 - You know, putting

36:11 - my left hand on Ronald Reagan's Bible and raising my right hand,

36:15 - taking the oath of office to serve as vice president

36:18 - of the United States, was,

36:23 - just an enormous,

36:27 - privilege for me.

36:29 - And, and a moment that I can't really adequately describe.

36:34 - I remember thinking of people ask me sometimes,

36:36 - what were you thinking about on that inauguration?

36:37 - Cold day, January 2017?

36:40 - I was thinking a lot of my grandfather.

36:43 - He and I were very close.

36:45 - He passed away in my 18th year, but I still went on to Ireland,

36:48 - and I met all my relations there. And,

36:53 - I remember thinking grandpa

36:54 - was looking down from glory on that day, and,

36:59 - I think he was probably very surprised.

37:03 - I think he knew me pretty well, actually, that Michael,

37:09 - but then in another sense, I don't think he was surprised

37:11 - because my great grandmother had apparently bought him a one way ticket.

37:17 - Told him he had to go to America because, the legend in our family

37:21 - is my great grandmother told him there's a future there for you.

37:25 - And I don't think she was talking about me or our family.

37:28 - I think she was talking about

37:31 - in America, anybody can be anybody.

37:34 - And to think that in the in the sweep of just two generations,

37:39 - that 21 year old kid getting off a boat onto Ellis Island

37:43 - without two nickels to rub together could have his namesake and his grandson

37:48 - taking the oath, the second highest office

37:50 - in the land.

37:54 - Just tell you everything you didn't know about America.

37:57 - This is a great country.

37:58 - Really is.

37:59 - Fernando.

38:03 - Thank you.

38:07 - Thank you, thank you, thank you.

38:08 - We can go over to the side.

38:10 - Oh, hi. Oh,

38:12 - hi, Mr. Pants.

38:13 - Thank you for being here.

38:15 - My name is Sydney Rutter.

38:16 - I'm a senior marketing major here, so I said we're ending it with you.

38:21 - But let me pull up my question.

38:24 - Okay.

38:25 - So has there ever been a time, well, in office

38:29 - that Christ had convicted you?

38:32 - And if you don't mind sharing, what was that time and what was that

38:35 - conviction?

38:37 - And how have you followed,

38:39 - and been moved to follow Christ and Christ's heart,

38:43 - over worldly political allegiances

38:46 - when those convictions hit?

38:51 - Well, has

38:52 - there been a time in my career where I have been convicted by the Lord?

38:56 - How much time do we have?

39:00 - We're sure there has.

39:01 - In fact,

39:02 - if you grab that book of mine, you'll see the early days of my political life.

39:05 - I ended up writing after my second failed campaign,

39:10 - when I was not a whole lot older than you.

39:13 - Sydney, I, I wrote an essay

39:15 - entitled confessions of a Negative Campaigner

39:19 - because I felt deeply convicted that I had just lost an election I'd.

39:23 - I'd failed to live up

39:25 - to what I profess to believe.

39:30 - And that was that. I,

39:33 - you know, love your neighbor as yourself.

39:36 - I didn't allowed myself to be pulled

39:38 - into negative politics, which is really easy to happen.

39:41 - Okay.

39:43 - And on on social media today is real easy,

39:46 - I know, for you to be pulled into the negative invective

39:49 - that that takes place there's so easily and so readily, but,

39:55 - it was a it was

39:56 - a really formative time for me and a time that I,

40:00 - I just determined that if I ever had a chance to,

40:03 - to run for office again, that I'd,

40:06 - I'd running away. The first would honor God.

40:09 - And he gave us those opportunities.

40:11 - But it would be a long time later, maybe ten years later,

40:14 - that those opportunities would come back around.

40:18 - But in, in terms of,

40:21 - in terms of our, our service overall, I really do think,

40:25 - you know, people have talked to me about how your Christian faith

40:28 - affects your views and policies.

40:31 - And I must tell you, I'm I'm pro-life.

40:33 - I don't apologize for it.

40:35 - I really believe that

40:37 - restoring the sanctity of life is the calling and opportunity of our time.

40:42 - But I hope mostly

40:44 - the way my faith has impacted me is the way I've dealt with others.

40:48 - You know,

40:48 - I tell people I'm a conservative, but I'm not in a bad mood about it.

40:52 - Right?

40:53 - And I think most of the people who I serve

40:56 - with in Congress, most of the governors, in both parties I serve with,

40:59 - I to this day enjoy good relationships with,

41:03 - because in politics, nobody ever begrudge you holding the opinions you hold.

41:08 - It's okay.

41:11 - It's when you cross over into

41:14 - personal attacks that can create

41:17 - permanent separation from people.

41:20 - That's one of the reasons why in in Congress you have these arcane rules.

41:24 - You ever watch C-Span?

41:25 - I know they may be recording tonight, but you have people on the floor

41:29 - of the Congress that are say, well, the gentlelady from Pennsylvania

41:34 - or my good friend, from Indiana, they got these arcane rules of debate.

41:39 - But it's because civility is essential to democracy.

41:45 - And and I hope when people look at my career

41:47 - that they might see a little bit of him just in the way that I've.

41:52 - I've just tried to treat others the way that I want to be treated.

41:59 - Please.

42:02 - Okay.

42:02 - Okay.

42:05 - Hi. Thank you for being here this evening.

42:07 - My name is Emma martz.

42:08 - I'm a junior history major. Hi. Hi.

42:10 - I wanted to.

42:11 - You spoke earlier about the importance of defending the Constitution.

42:14 - I wanted to ask, what are your thoughts and views of the current state

42:18 - of civic education in the country?

42:25 - We could use a whole lot more.

42:29 - Really, could I?

42:29 - I always, always struck

42:30 - by the fact that in his farewell address, President Reagan actually,

42:34 - of all the things he could talk about, one of the things he talked about

42:38 - was the importance of restoring civic education.

42:42 - He also talked about,

42:45 - going home for dinner

42:47 - and having a good debate with your family around the dinner table.

42:50 - These are

42:52 - these are such warm and personal things that I just knew they had to come from.

42:58 - The pan of our 40th president personally.

43:02 - But I actually, there's I think there's nothing nothing more important.

43:05 - And maybe in this 250 years anniversary will reinvigorate,

43:11 - our interest and commitment in it because, you know, it's

43:16 - it, as has been said,

43:18 - you know, you can move to France

43:22 - with with all due respect to Mrs.

43:23 - Minow, you can move to France and not become a Frenchman.

43:29 - Right?

43:30 - You can move to Italy and not become Italian.

43:33 - You can move to Japan and not become Japanese.

43:37 - But you move to America.

43:38 - You can become an American.

43:40 - It's because in America,

43:43 - we're not defined by ethnicity.

43:47 - Or or where we came from.

43:49 - We are defined by a commitment to a set of principles and ideals.

43:54 - And I think it's absolutely essential,

43:57 - that in the next 250 years, we ensure

44:01 - that our children and our children's children understand the unique

44:04 - and exceptional genius of the American experiment,

44:08 - from the revolution to the Constitution and everyday

44:11 - sense.

44:20 - Hi, my name is Hannah Foust.

44:23 - I'm going to be hopefully be a first generation law student.

44:27 - My question as it her

44:28 - and she told me earlier, she's applied to Indiana University.

44:36 - Which I don't think I've mentioned

44:37 - this evening, won the national football

44:41 - championship

44:43 - in 2026.

44:47 - We're just a little bit proud.

44:48 - I'm sorry. Go ahead. Your time.

44:50 - I understand my,

44:53 - I come from a background, very rural.

44:55 - My grandparents were poor and my parents were first generation college students.

45:00 - This pertains moreso to education than it does religion.

45:04 - You've been through it. You've gained status.

45:06 - You've been to law school.

45:07 - What words of advice do you have for students who feel

45:11 - and it seems as though education is getting increasingly more expensive,

45:16 - and you've mentioned the importance of education

45:18 - and how important it is to continue to climb that ladder.

45:21 - How do we balance that, and how do we achieve education while dealing with that?

45:27 - How expensive it is?

45:30 - Well, I

45:32 - look, we got three kids through college

45:36 - and a couple through grad school.

45:39 - And Mrs.

45:39 - Pence and I can relate to that

45:42 - on a on a public salary.

45:45 - But I, I just I would encourage you

45:47 - to press on, press forward.

45:51 - You're you're getting.

45:53 - I know,

45:55 - you all have a great appreciation

45:58 - for this, but and I know we've got members of the board of trustees here,

46:01 - but Susquehanna University is giving you

46:04 - an extraordinary world class education.

46:08 - It is. And.

46:11 - I just encourage you to continue to build on that.

46:16 - Best advice I ever got when I got out

46:19 - of college was, somebody said,

46:21 - don't take your first job for the money,

46:24 - look for experience.

46:27 - I mean, in your 20s, you ought to be looking for the widest

46:30 - range of experience to be able to sort out what your calling is in life.

46:35 - And I think the same thing with regard.

46:37 - Don't ever hesitate to pursue that next level of education to which you can attain

46:42 - because of the cost,

46:45 - because that will sort itself out in time.

46:48 - Guaranteed student loans and Pell grants, all the rest.

46:51 - That's available.

46:53 - But, but seize this time in your life, which becomes

46:57 - much more difficult later in your life if you want to

47:00 - achieve more educational attainment.

47:02 - But this time in your life, I just want to encourage you,

47:05 - I promise you, it'll pay off in the future. And,

47:09 - rest assured, your future's very bright.

47:11 - Especially if you go to Indiana University School of Law.

47:16 - Indianapolis. That's.

47:18 - Where are you going to go?

47:19 - Thank you. Hi.

47:22 - Hello, Mr.

47:22 - pence, settled on the journals and the digital content, major.

47:26 - Yes, sir.

47:27 - Matthew's 25.

47:28 - And is love your neighbor as yourself?

47:30 - As I say he does.

47:32 - It's the second part of the great commandment.

47:35 - In 2015, you signed the Religious Freedom

47:38 - Restoration Act in Indiana in a closed door ceremony.

47:41 - You also supported HDR three, a bill to add an amendment

47:45 - banning same sex marriage in Indiana's constitution.

47:49 - In 2014.

47:50 - Based on this first verse and your views,

47:54 - how would you feel in the shoes of your LGBTQ neighbors?

47:58 - And what would you do differently based on this verse?

48:03 - Well, thank you for the question.

48:06 - It's, it's actually a 2015

48:09 - was the religious freedom Restoration Act

48:12 - in Indiana.

48:14 - John F Kennedy said once to lead us

48:16 - to be misunderstood.

48:19 - And while some 30 states in the Union, including the federal government,

48:25 - had adopted religious freedom Restoration Acts, including president Bill Clinton,

48:31 - signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in the federal level

48:34 - in the 1990s.

48:37 - In those days leading up to the Supreme Court's

48:41 - decision about same sex marriage,

48:45 - understandably, emotions were high.

48:48 - And so when Indiana, like several other states, had passed a bill that suddenly

48:53 - was characterized as a license to discriminate against people,

48:59 - in same sex relationships and, nothing could have been further

49:03 - from the truth is, one of the reasons why I,

49:08 - against the the, hopes of some.

49:12 - We actually amended the bill just to make sure that people knew it.

49:16 - It could not be used as, as a license for discrimination.

49:22 - But there were certainly

49:23 - lessons that we learned along the way.

49:26 - And I think that,

49:29 - understanding going forward, now that

49:34 - while that constitutional decision is sat,

49:38 - as I said, to,

49:41 - Doctor Mann earlier, I think now it's extremely important

49:44 - and that we make sure that people that hold a different view,

49:51 - on the issue of marriage,

49:54 - are not likewise intruded upon in terms of their religious practice

49:58 - and not just religious institutions and traditions,

50:02 - but, but educational institutions and otherwise.

50:05 - That's what a that's what a free society really looks like.

50:09 - But, for my part,

50:13 - my late father would have called that year a good learning experience.

50:17 - And it certainly was for me.

50:19 - But, people that know the Pences well know that,

50:24 - We love everybody.

50:27 - And I never want anybody to ever feel otherwise when it comes to us.

50:32 - Thank you for the question.

50:33 - Very thoughtful.

50:39 - Hello, Mr.

50:40 - Pence, my name is Max Brown.

50:41 - I'm a first year business analytics major, and I have a question.

50:45 - Hi, Max. How are you?

50:47 - It was a pleasure hearing you speak tonight, and I was wondering

50:50 - if you can share a moment over the course of your time as vice president,

50:53 - where choosing your faith has cost you

50:56 - something politically.

51:05 - Well, it might be, Max.

51:07 - It might be a better, question to ask others about what

51:10 - it's cost me.

51:14 - But, right

51:17 - at the end of the day.

51:20 - I'm some of the believes if you're going to go into a leadership

51:23 - role, whether it's elected or appointed, whether it's in a business,

51:27 - you just do well just to let your USPS and your know, be, know,

51:32 - right?

51:33 - And just trust people to know your heart, or at least

51:37 - learn a little bit better how to share your heart or with people.

51:41 - And, you know, there

51:44 - certainly were times in the course of my career,

51:48 - where,

51:50 - there was some cost to standing

51:52 - firm on a conviction, but,

51:56 - but I have to tell you,

51:59 - someone said to me, you know, that,

52:02 - you know, stands that you've taken a you've paid a price for,

52:07 - what's your advice?

52:08 - And I said not long ago, pay the price.

52:13 - I sleep great,

52:15 - I really do.

52:17 - I mean, the the, there's always there's always a temptation

52:21 - to be something different than what you are,

52:24 - whether it's in a conversation with some friends who may not think

52:27 - the way you do on everything back, or whether it's of of a,

52:32 - career decision or relationship. But,

52:37 - I, I really hold the view and my experience

52:40 - through some trial and error, emphasis on error in my life,

52:44 - that, that

52:48 - peace will follow integrity to purpose

52:52 - if you just will stand on your convictions,

52:56 - trust God for the outcome.

52:59 - You can have a lot of peace about it, so be encouraged.

53:03 - I can tell you as a leader.

53:04 - Thank you.

53:10 - Hi, my name is Jacob Rocky,

53:12 - and I'm a junior music education major.

53:15 - To me, there's no doubt in my mind that you're a man of deep faith.

53:20 - Contrary to that, I think a lot of other people,

53:22 - including myself, might have seen your counterpart as not

53:27 - as as much of a man of of deep faith.

53:30 - And I know he's been seen.

53:33 - And people might think this other, too, that he's

53:36 - that he's been seen touting the Bible and touting religion.

53:40 - When it's convenient for him in order to gain voters or whatnot.

53:44 - And most recently, in this new term, he's been seen,

53:48 - selling Bibles for

53:50 - an extraordinary price and trying to make a profit on religion.

53:54 - Did you ever see this side of of, President Trump

53:58 - when you, worked with him during your guys's term together?

54:02 - And if not, you see it now?

54:04 - And how has it made you feel?

54:11 - You know, I,

54:14 - as I stipulated before, some people think

54:16 - President Trump and I are a little bit different, right?

54:21 - But I can honestly tell you, in our four years, up

54:24 - until those difficult final days, we had a good working

54:27 - relationship.

54:31 - He was not just my president.

54:32 - He was my friend.

54:35 - And I found in the years that we were together virtually every day,

54:38 - I mean, I spent three and four hours a day, every day in the Oval Office.

54:44 - And when we were traveling either around the country, around the world,

54:47 - we'd speak in the morning by phone or speak in the evening by phone

54:52 - or speak in the morning and speak in the evening by phone.

54:56 - So it was a continuous dialog between the two of us.

55:00 - And through all of that, I found him to be deeply respectful of,

55:05 - of of my of my family's faith.

55:09 - And and I could tell you that no one knows a man's heart.

55:13 - Okay.

55:16 - But I lost count of the number of times he'd look at me and say, my,

55:19 - I'm a believer. You know, I'm a believer,

55:22 - and I know the yes at heritage and his life of.

55:26 - Look.

55:29 - I just think, and,

55:33 - you know, the Bible admonishes us to pray

55:35 - for those in authority, and I pray for the president.

55:39 - We don't talk as often as we used to.

55:43 - But I pray for him often, and I pray for the vice president

55:46 - and encourage you to do the same.

55:50 - Style is otherwise heart.

55:54 - Hearts matter between each one of us

55:57 - and God.

56:00 - Thank you.

56:00 - Thank you. Thank you.

56:03 - All right.

56:04 - Hi, I'm Sean. My. Sean.

56:06 - Thank you, Mr. Pence, for being here.

56:08 - You've spoken about Ronald Reagan tonight several times.

56:11 - And I think it's fair to say with reverence.

56:13 - And I was just curious how you view some of Ronald Reagan's policies, such

56:16 - as the amnesty for illegal illegal aliens and which has since turned

56:21 - state blue, is national restriction on automatic firearms.

56:24 - And his free trade policies, which have been disastrous

56:27 - for American manufacturing.

56:29 - How do you reconcile his brand of conservatism, which I think

56:33 - it's fair to say you ascribe to with the modern brand of conservatism.

56:39 - Yeah, really good question.

56:41 - I was with you on on door number one or door number two, but not door

56:44 - number three.

56:47 - Which is fair.

56:48 - That's good.

56:49 - You're very informed.

56:50 - I'm impressed.

56:52 - Look, I didn't agree with everything President Reagan did, but

56:55 - the way he committed to build up our military

56:59 - as the arsenal of democracy would ultimately cause the collapse

57:02 - of the Soviet Union.

57:03 - Two years after he left office.

57:06 - The. The Reagan tax cuts launched

57:09 - the longest period of peacetime expansion in American history.

57:13 - And the Trump Pence tax cuts were modeled after those very tax cuts

57:17 - and literally created millions of American jobs, as a result.

57:22 - And of course, the the president's commitment to, the right to life.

57:27 - While he didn't make progress on that as we did,

57:31 - was inspiring to me.

57:32 - But I take your point. There were other policies.

57:35 - I will take issue with you a little bit.

57:36 - We should have a good debate about, trade at some point.

57:40 - I'm somebody that believes in free trade with free nations.

57:45 - Now, I fully supported

57:48 - our administration's tough tariffs on China.

57:51 - I mean, China has been stealing intellectual property,

57:54 - engaging in trade abuses, military provocations, human rights abuses.

57:58 - China represents the greatest economic and strategic

58:03 - threat facing the United States in the 21st century, in fact.

58:06 - So I don't think I don't think we should ever hesitate

58:09 - to use access to our markets, which is what tariffs create

58:14 - to to essentially put pressure on China to reform.

58:18 - That being said,

58:20 - I believe in free trade with free nations, which I think is what President Reagan

58:23 - advocated the because the reality is, and this has been

58:28 - at the center of conservative thought since the days of Adam Smith,

58:32 - who wrote The Wealth of Nations

58:35 - back in 1776.

58:36 - Is that that when when you recognize the freedom

58:41 - of this person to buy goods from this person,

58:46 - irrespective of whether there's a border, both ships rise?

58:49 - I mean, it improves the quality of life on both sides

58:53 - of that exchange when you have free and open trade.

58:57 - And coming from Indiana, which is the second

58:59 - leading exporting state, in the country.

59:03 - I can tell you the trade means jobs, and I can assure you

59:06 - it means jobs here in Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

59:09 - What we ought to be doing is lowering trade barriers and non,

59:13 - or non-tariff barriers

59:16 - with nations that respect the rule of law and are free nations.

59:21 - But authoritarian regimes around the world.

59:23 - We ought to have a high threshold for them having access to the American economy.

59:29 - And so you and I will continue that debate in the party in the months ahead.

59:33 - Thank you. Well thank you. Great question.

59:37 - I think you

59:39 - I think you

59:41 - I think we have time for one more question from each side.

59:45 - Hi. My name is, Kat Pasqua.

59:47 - I'm a psychology major.

59:48 - Hi. Hi.

59:53 - I just play. Me too.

59:57 - Okay. Okay. I remember,

59:59 - 632 I had just gotten my citizenship over the summer,

01:00 - 05.702 and I was wondering if you thought that

01:00 - 08.738 the current administration's,

01:00 - 10.974 like, how they're handling immigration at the moment.

01:00 - 14.644 Do you think that that goes against Christian values of nonviolence

01:00 - 17.213 and compassion?

01:00 - 19.916 Well, I wrote a piece in the Free Press that I'd recommend.

01:00 - 22.151 It's about two weeks ago,

01:00 - 25.121 before the administration adjusted

01:00 - 28.358 the situation in Minnesota,

01:00 - 30.693 and I heartily welcomed

01:00 - 33.696 Tom Holman's deployment there.

01:00 - 35.365 I've known Tom a long time.

01:00 - 37.834 He's worked in Republican and Democrat administrations.

01:00 - 38.267 He is

01:00 - 42.538 to know Tom Homan is he's a cop

01:00 - 45.642 and he's a good cop.

01:00 - 48.144 And I'm very encouraged that the progress

01:00 - 51.547 they've made facilitating cooperation

01:00 - 57.387 with state and local law enforcement and and in a very real sense,

01:00 - 00.523 still making it possible to get dangerous people

01:01 - 03.526 off the streets.

01:01 - 05.662 But look,

01:01 - 08.431 the loss of not one, but two American citizens

01:01 - 11.801 lives in police involved shooting was a tragedy.

01:01 - 17.240 And, And I said that when whenever there's

01:01 - 20.309 a police involved shooting, the first thing you do is recognize,

01:01 - 24.013 that,

01:01 - 27.016 you don't rush to judgment about law enforcement.

01:01 - 31.788 My uncle was a police officer in Chicago for 30 years.

01:01 - 36.225 And a police officer will tell you that the

01:01 - 40.163 the split second decisions that they are face to make,

01:01 - 45.735 ought not to be met with a rush to judgment by the public,

01:01 - 51.107 but when there is a tragedy with a police involved shooting there,

01:01 - 54.744 there ought to be an immediate and transparent investigation.

01:01 - 58.648 And and if, if there was wrongdoing,

01:01 - 02.351 I mean, no, nobody hates bad cops more than good cops.

01:02 - 06.055 So if there's wrongdoing, then there ought to be accountability.

01:02 - 09.058 But in the same breath is to recognize,

01:02 - 12.462 that,

01:02 - 15.264 the the presence of dangerous

01:02 - 18.868 illegal immigrants on the street, people with violent criminal records,

01:02 - 24.340 that the American people have every right, not only in the wake of tragedy

01:02 - 27.376 to get answers, but they have every right to have safe streets.

01:02 - 31.247 And and that's where we we have to continue

01:02 - 33.483 to find ways to support law enforcement.

01:02 - 36.486 I will tell you, in my time as vice president,

01:02 - 39.522 the Immigration and Customs,

01:02 - 42.492 the Ice officers, I met, the border Patrol officers.

01:02 - 45.762 I met some of the best, most honorable men and women

01:02 - 48.731 in uniform in this country.

01:02 - 52.869 And it doesn't mean that mistakes don't happen, but, these are honorable

01:02 - 57.140 people doing a really hard job and I think deserve our support.

01:02 - 00.042 And so to me, that's the balance.

01:03 - 03.346 And that's what I wrote about in the Free Press essay. And,

01:03 - 06.015 but as I said, I was very

01:03 - 09.018 heartened when the president made the decision to

01:03 - 11.854 change the guard up there.

01:03 - 14.323 Sometime. Hold it up.

01:03 - 17.059 And now you've got cooperation from,

01:03 - 20.062 city law enforcement in Minneapolis.

01:03 - 23.666 State as well as federal.

01:03 - 25.201 Look.

01:03 - 28.204 My last thought was,

01:03 - 33.109 I was very concerned of what was happening in Minneapolis

01:03 - 36.112 because I saw what happened in Minneapolis in 2020.

01:03 - 42.185 Literally, the city was in the wake of George Floyd's killing.

01:03 - 47.056 The city was just virtually entire blocks were burned to the ground,

01:03 - 51.194 by rioters and protesters. And,

01:03 - 53.863 I visited there with a wonderful

01:03 - 56.833 African-American,

01:03 - 58.434 woman who had her own

01:03 - 01.437 little beauty shop that was burned out by the rioters.

01:04 - 06.042 And, so to me, it was extremely important that we lean into this moment,

01:04 - 08.978 that we support law enforcement.

01:04 - 11.447 But we also heard the concerns.

01:04 - 14.450 And, I really I really believe that,

01:04 - 18.421 the decision, the decisions that have been made there have set that

01:04 - 22.491 on a better path for law enforcement as well as accountability.

01:04 - 26.095 That's how it's supposed to work. Thank you.

01:04 - 29.098 So we have.

01:04 - 30.867 We have time for one more question.

01:04 - 33.536 I was also going to say, Kat, if you don't have a subscription

01:04 - 36.539 to the Free Press, I can get you a copy of the article.

01:04 - 40.910 Hi. Hi.

01:04 - 42.478 My name is on here.

01:04 - 45.648 I just wanted to say how much of an honor it it has been to hear you speak.

01:04 - 46.515 And thank you.

01:04 - 47.650 I wanted to thank you

01:04 - 51.387 for all the things you've done for this beautiful, beautiful country.

01:04 - 54.991 And I wanted to ask you this question.

01:04 - 58.761 Not just as, conservative, but as someone who

01:04 - 02.598 always looks for, harmony and improvement.

01:05 - 07.303 What advice do you have for students navigating

01:05 - 12.608 increasingly polarized and even extreme opposing views on campus,

01:05 - 15.745 and especially when support seems to support

01:05 - 18.748 disproportionately distributed?

01:05 - 27.423 Well, I love that Bible verses.

01:05 - 31.727 As always, be prepared to give a reason for the hope that you have, but do so

01:05 - 34.730 with gentleness and respect.

01:05 - 39.769 And that would go whatever perspective you're coming from, I think.

01:05 - 43.306 I think recognizing the need to practice civility,

01:05 - 46.609 to respect other people's rights,

01:05 - 49.612 to hold the views that they have.

01:05 - 52.682 Is going to be reciprocated.

01:05 - 54.050 And look,

01:05 - 57.853 I spent, I spent four years in college.

01:05 - 58.254 I worked

01:05 - 02.024 at the college that I graduated from, and then I went to law school a few years

01:06 - 02.658 down the road.

01:06 - 06.228 So I know this is a this is a passionate time in your life.

01:06 - 07.763 People have strong feelings.

01:06 - 13.069 But, look, I let me leave you with this thought.

01:06 - 15.538 Whether it applies on campus life or not.

01:06 - 18.874 I think our politics are more divided than ever before.

01:06 - 21.544 In my lifetime.

01:06 - 24.013 I'm just not convinced the American people are as divided

01:06 - 26.983 as our politics.

01:06 - 32.054 You know, I.

01:06 - 32.888 I mean, I you know,

01:06 - 36.459 I my offices are in Washington, DC, but I live in Indiana.

01:06 - 41.764 But I got five acres and a pond, a pickup truck, riding mower.

01:06 - 43.766 Right.

01:06 - 46.769 I mean, I, I have to tell you,

01:06 - 50.239 traveling all across this country over the last five years,

01:06 - 53.776 I always say to people, you know, you get 15 miles out of Washington,

01:06 - 56.779 D.C., the people in this country actually get along pretty well.

01:06 - 01.617 It's just when you turn on the internet and you turn on cable TV,

01:07 - 04.620 it looks like we're in a constant argument with each other.

01:07 - 07.323 But the truth is, the reason why communities work,

01:07 - 10.426 the reason why businesses work, the reason why America works,

01:07 - 14.497 is because we all,

01:07 - 17.500 we all have an ingrained sense of,

01:07 - 19.702 respect for one another in a free society.

01:07 - 21.937 I really believe that I've seen it.

01:07 - 24.673 I mean, I really am very optimistic

01:07 - 27.877 about the future, but this country is for two reasons.

01:07 - 30.913 And you've been very generous in referencing my faith.

01:07 - 34.683 I think, I still consider myself a very young believer.

01:07 - 38.120 I'm an old guy. Young believer.

01:07 - 40.356 Got a lot to learn.

01:07 - 41.624 But I have my.

01:07 - 45.027 My confidence about the future of America comes from my faith in God,

01:07 - 48.030 who I think has ever had his hand on this,

01:07 - 49.932 this nation since its founding.

01:07 - 52.835 I mean, we're

01:07 - 55.104 we're the only nation

01:07 - 58.107 on earth, with the exception of one other,

01:07 - 01.911 perhaps, that has a different foundation.

01:08 - 04.947 But we're we're a group of people came together

01:08 - 09.718 and decided that we were going to organize a government around the principle

01:08 - 13.622 that we were endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights,

01:08 - 17.026 right.

01:08 - 19.562 And Moses came down from the mountain with that message.

01:08 - 21.564 There was no mountain and no Moses.

01:08 - 24.867 It just our people came together and said, we believe we are endowed

01:08 - 28.671 by our creator with certain inalienable rights.

01:08 - 30.005 And so it's faith in him.

01:08 - 33.008 But also lastly, I'll tell you, it's faith in the American people.

01:08 - 37.947 You know, when you're a vice president or a governor, sometimes a congressman,

01:08 - 41.951 you end up finding yourself

01:08 - 45.521 not only with people when things are going well,

01:08 - 49.492 but sometimes if you're doing your job right, you're with people

01:08 - 52.495 when the very worst things have happened.

01:08 - 54.530 Karen and I went,

01:08 - 56.365 to Texas

01:08 - 59.368 after a mass shooting and met with families

01:08 - 02.371 just days after church shooting.

01:09 - 04.039 We visited

01:09 - 07.476 sites, where hurricanes had ravaged entire communities

01:09 - 10.479 in Texas, wildfires in California,

01:09 - 14.283 flooding and tornadoes in Indiana.

01:09 - 18.521 And I always tell people every time I see one of these natural disasters,

01:09 - 22.591 and I expect this is true of in New England today,

01:09 - 25.594 with two feet of snow.

01:09 - 29.465 I always tell people when the when the wind blows

01:09 - 32.468 and beats against the house, when the floodwaters rise,

01:09 - 36.305 the only thing you can't find the next day in that neighborhood is a parking space.

01:09 - 40.309 Because people come from everywhere

01:09 - 44.079 to help people they've never met and will never see again rebuild their lives.

01:09 - 48.050 I mean, I have to tell you, for for all my years traveling

01:09 - 52.421 this country, I am convinced the American people

01:09 - 57.326 are the most idealistic, generous, caring,

01:09 - 01.830 patriotic people the world has ever known.

01:10 - 05.701 We just need government as good as our people again.

01:10 - 08.237 And I think we'll have.

01:10 - 11.240 Thank you so much.

01:10 - 16.745 I'm afraid that's all the time we have

01:10 - 19.748 for this evening before you all depart and we wrap up.

01:10 - 23.686 I would ask that, you please take a moment to thank both

01:10 - 27.590 the Office of Events Management and our campus safety officers and actual

01:10 - 30.726 and law enforcement officers as well, for the many hours of work that they do

01:10 - 34.129 behind the scenes to make events like this one such a success.

01:10 - 37.166 So please join me in thanking them.

01:10 - 50.312 And thank you to all of you as well for being here this evening.

01:10 - 54.049 We, enjoyed having all this time together, and and I look forward

01:10 - 58.153 to seeing you next year at the 2027 Alice Pope Shade Lecture.

01:10 - 03.559 In the meantime, drive safely on your way home this evening and thank you again.

01:11 - 03.993 Good night.

01:11 - 05.661 Thanks, everybody.

01:11 - 24.813 God bless you. And.