Lt. Col. (retired) Alexander Vindman, the man of conscience who reported President Trump’s “perfect call” that led to presidential impeachment, will discuss his book, Here, Right Matters: An American Story, at The Progressive Forum Thursday, October, 13 at 7:30 p.m. CT.
Paid ticket holders at the event will receive a free copy of his book, a retail value of $17.99. The book partner is Blue Willow Bookshop.
The event is in Houston at Congregation Emanu El, 1500 Sunset Blvd. Tickets are available online at ProgressiveForumHouston.org, and at 800-514-3849 Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. EST. They will also be available at the door on event night. General admission tickets are $45 and $70 for side and middle sections, respectively. Tickets for reserved seats and speaker reception are $150.
“When courage and conscience are so missing in American leadership, Col. Vindman’s appearance will inspire, reminding us what patriotism looks like,” said Progressive Forum founder, Randall Morton.
The event is sponsored by the Beverly M. Manne Trust. The trustee is high-profile attorney Neal Manne, former managing partner of Susman Godfrey. Manne said, “I’m delighted to honor my mother this way, who, like Col. Vindman, was a child of Eastern European Jewish immigrants and lived a vibrant civic life.”
Vindman’s book is a stirring account of his immigrant childhood growing up in Brooklyn, a sterling military career defending his new homeland on the battlefield, and rising to serve in the White House, where he reported President Trump’s extortionist call to Ukraine President Zelensky, asking him to investigate Vice President Biden and his son Hunter, despite intense pressure to stay silent.
Vindman was born in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. After the death of his mother, his father fled the Soviet Union with 3-year-old Alex and his two brothers, bringing them to New York, starting a new life from scratch. In his testimony before Congress, which led to Trump’s impeachment, Vindman opened his statement thanking his father, saying, “In Russia, my act of offering public testimony involving the President would surely cost me my life. I am grateful for my father’s brave act of hope … for the privilege of being an American citizen and public servant.”
Vindman is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel. Most recently he was the director for Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Russia on the White House National Security Council. He served in South Korea, where he led infantry and anti-armor platoons. He is a combat veteran of the Iraq War, where he sustained an injury from a roadside bomb and earned a Purple Heart.
Before the White House, he served the Joint Chiefs of Staff as the Political-Military Affairs Officer for Russia, as well as a military attache at the U.S. Embassies in Moscow and Kiev. While on the Joint Staff, he co-authored the National Military Strategy Russia Annex and was the principal author for the Global Campaign for Russia. He is currently a doctoral student and senior fellow for the Foreign Policy Institute at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. He’s also a Pritzker Military Fellow at the Lawfare Institute, executive board member for the Renew Democracy Initiative, and senior advisor for VoteVets.
About The Progressive Forum
The Progressive Forum is the nation’s only lecture series expressly dedicated to progressive values. It’s one of the world’s largest speaker series producing in-person events along with free companion livestreams. Its mission is to present the great minds from all the fields of human endeavor with answers for the success of individuals, our species, and life.
Founded in 2005 by Randall Morton, the history of The Progressive Forum includes several national book launches, including Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, the father of climate science James Hansen’s Storms of My Grandchildren, and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s My Beloved World. The Forum provided the film premiere for Robert Redford’s documentary, Fighting Goliath: Texas Coal Wars, which Redford introduced. Gloria Steinem celebrated the 30th anniversary of the National Women’s Conference in Houston. Other speakers include House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the late Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, and the 68th Secretary of State John Kerry, as well as Jane Goodall, Ken Burns, Bill Moyers, and more.
For more background on The Progressive Forum, go to ProgressiveForumHouston.org.