Bipartisan Alliance Launches Lessons in Civics With the Help of Former Presidents and First Ladies

The Obamas, Bushes and Clintons are among those to draw on the wisdom of the past in a collection of essays.

First Lady Michelle Obama (L) poses with former first ladies (2nd L-R) Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton, Barbara Bush and Rosalynn Carter as they attend the dedication ceremony for the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas in 2013. Obama, Bush and Clinton will contribute to the In Pursuit essay series. (Photo by Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images)

A group of bipartisan optimists who have been meeting for the past two years about the need for civic education for all ages, among other issues, are betting the helpless narrative of political division that has gripped the United States is, like a feverish fad, now past its prime.

For them, it’s not a gamble, though. It’s a duty. And, they are hopeful about nudging the citizenry out of the chasm toward a fuller understanding of democracy with lessons learned and illuminated by nonpartisan history as the country approaches its 250th founding anniversary in 2026.

That group, a Washington, D.C.-based organization called More Perfect, whic…