Interview: Michael Malone on Eagle Scouts and the Four Percent
With today being the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts’ Eagle Scouting Award, my friend Michael S. Malone of Forbes and ABC, and a frequent contributor here at PJM, drops by to talk about his newest book, Four Percent: The Story of Uncommon Youth in a Century of American Life. During our interview, Michael discusses:
The history of the Boy Scouts, and how Scouts went from being the pride of the early American Progressive movement to being demonized a century later by today’s would-be “Progressives.”- Why the Eagle Scouting badge has been dubbed “The PhD of Boyhood.”
- How the original Dangerous Book for Boys was written — over a century ago.
- The Boy Scouts versus Liberal Fascism and the Moral Equivalent of War.
- Hollywood stars who everyone assumes were Eagle Scouts — but weren’t.
- Past presidents and their connection with Scouting — and Barack Obama’s tenuous relationship with the organization.
And much more. Click here to listen:
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For more from Michael on the topic, don’t miss his new Wall Street Journal column on “A Century of Eagle Scouts.” And for our earlier podcasts, click here and just keep scrolling.
I am an Eagle Scout. Earning that award was the first time in my life that I had to become “obsessed” with a project, to complete the community service project requirement of the award. Beyond simply earning the merit badges in diverse and required topics, I became obsessed in the the planning, the execution, self-evaluation, and the evaluation of the work that was also contributed by other scouts who helped me to complete the service project.
I earned my award a few months shy of my 15th birthday.
I had to later employ these same skills during college and law school.
The way in which the scouting program encouraged me (and even forced me) to be well rounded in many aspects truly became ingrained in my nature. As a lawyer, I have difficulty with the concept of being a specialist. I recognize there is a time and a place for that practitioner (IP, bankruptcy, criminal defense), but my nature wants me to have at least competent knowledge in all those subjects. Outside of my professional life, I want to know how to do things related to plumbing, home electrical work, automotive and motorcycle maintenance, hunting, and cooking.
I think that the Scouting program, and earning the Eagle Scout award is the basis for all that. I had to be competent in my camping skills, my physical fitness skills, my civics related skills, my nature and science study related skills, and even practical skills like sewing or basic rifle and shotgun skills.
I think I could do far worse as a father than to raise my son with that same breadth of knowledge.
Very cool and happy birthday Eagle Scouts!
I’m glad the BSA has stood firm against the “Progressive” agenda thus far, but I see signs of cracking. In their recent vote to uphold the ban on homosexuals, several who voted FOR the ban said they didn’t agree with it. ????
That ain’t good. Those people need to be kicked out of Scouting.
That said, The Eagle Scout achievement is a great one for helping to make men. I’ve watched two of my boys grow quite a bit as they strove for Eagle. One’s there, one’s got one more Board of Review to pass, and one is working on it.
But the value of Eagle and Scouting in general is highly dependent on the quality of the leadership in the local troop. Doing Scouting with my boys, we’ve seen troops that have only women leaders, because the “men” are…. well, worthless, I guess. I don’t know what their excuse is. We’ve seen other troops that flout the Scout laws – places I would NOT want my boys to be hanging out.
I am one of four brothers that all got our Eagle Scout in West Virginia. Our other brother made Life and was one step away from Eagle. We ALL are proud of our time in Scouting and have ALL went on in life to be an Engineer, Medical Sales Rep, Secret Service Agent, Paralegal ans Insurance Investigator. We all were part of two fantastic Troops (6 and 25 – both now defunct) and had wonderful Scout Masters ans Assistant SM’s. As well as a father who was never in Scouting, but was a Board member for years. Scouting is a wonderful tradition that needs to uphold the morals and values set forth by Sir Baden Powell.
Both of my sons achieved their Eagle while living in Nairobi, Kenya. During the first Eagle Project (a water storage tank) some of the on-looking men asked to assist. I told them my son was “Boss” and that he was in charge of allocating labor. I added that this project was “how Boys become Men”.
They got it. Their own tribes had traditions regarding the transition from childhood the responsibilities of adults. That the Americans also had these rituals surprised or puzzled no one.
I wonder if I had said that same thing to another American, if it would have been considered some form of hate speech.
I earned my Eagle Scout in 1969. My boy time in scouts included working 4 years at scout summer camp. My son joined Cub Scouts in 1986 and received his Eagle shortly after his 13th birthday. When he was little, I told him he could be anything he wanted to be—but he would become and Eagle Scout. On Friday (03 Aug 12) I will be attending, in my scout uniform, the awarding of the Eagle Scout medal to the next generation. Happy birthday BSA. Stay with the program.
some of the best times of my life when i was young. Really could not complain when fine sand blew into the camp fire scramble eggs. Learning Morse code led to me becoming an amateur radio operator. Still operating at 63 and loving it.
Both of my grandsons, my son, and son-in-law are Eagles. We have a portrait of them in their uniforms in our dining room. I was a scout but never achieved a rank above First Class and am extremely proud of them and the Boy Scout organization. The war against the scouts is a war against goodness.
Agreed, Ron.
But I fear the enemy is already inside the gates.