National Treasure and the Courage to Declare | Ryan Gregerson

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Welcome to Yes And Land, where we say yes to

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the reality of yesterday and today, and we say

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and to the possibility, growth, and imagination

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of tomorrow. In 80 days, on July 4th, 2026, this

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nation turns 250 years old. Right now, I'm in

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Washington, D .C. And I've just been at the National

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Archives, where earlier I was looking at the

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Declaration of Independence. Not a copy, the

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document. The one signed by 56 men who knew when

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they put pen to paper that if they lost the war,

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that piece of parchment was their death warrant.

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Today, we're talking about the courage to declare

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using a film that was practically made for this

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moment, National Treasure. Because what Ben Gates

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understood, And what those 56 men understood

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is that some things are worth risking everything

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for. And the question 250 years later is whether

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we still believe that. Here is what some people

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miss when they think about the founding of America.

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They picture ceremony, quill pens, wax seals,

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history unfolding in slow motion with the right

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music behind it. They do not picture what it

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actually was. A group of educated, terrified

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men committing treason the 2004 disney film national

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treasure opens with a grandfather passing a secret

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to his grandson a secret carried by their family

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for generations a secret so important has been

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hidden on the most protected document in american

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history the declaration of independence what

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i love about the film is not the treasure hunt

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it's it's the idea underneath it that the founding

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fathers were not just building a country They

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were building something they intended to last.

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And early in the film, the main character, Ben

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Gates, makes this declaration that sounds insane

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to everyone around him. I'm going to steal the

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Declaration of Independence. Now, strip away

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the movie plot and what Ben Gates is actually

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saying is, I'm going to do what no one else believes

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is necessary. I'm going to act when everyone

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around me thinks I am wrong. I'm going to declare

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my intention. before i have any guarantee of

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success and that is exactly what the founders

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did they declared their vision of a nation that

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did not yet exist when george washington's army

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was was starving and without enough arms or ammunition

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after i visited national archives i also visited

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ford's theater where our 14th president president

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abraham lincoln was shot a man who believed deeply

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in the principles found in the declaration of

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independence and I just finished seeing in that

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theater 1776, a musical about the Declaration

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being brought to life, how the divided colonies

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came together for the notion of a nation that

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they wanted to build, laying it all on the line

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in unity achieved through debate and discourse

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and a belief in what was right. One cannot do

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something like that without being profoundly,

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terrifyingly vulnerable. As Brene Brown said,

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vulnerability is not winning or losing. It's

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having the courage to show up and be seen when

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we have no control over the outcome. The founders

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had no control over the outcome. They were pledging

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their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred

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honor to something that could absolutely fail.

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That vulnerability was not a weakness in the

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plan. It was the point. Courage without the possibility

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of loss is not courage. It's just confidence.

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There's a scene in National Treasure that I think

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about perhaps more than any other scene in that

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film. Ben Gates raises a glass and makes a toast,

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not to victory, not to the treasure, but to high

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treason. And he says, to high treason. That's

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what these men were committing when they signed

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the declaration. Had we lost the war, they would

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have been hanged beheaded drawn and quartered

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and disemboweled their entrails would have been

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cut out and burned so here's to the men who did

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what was considered wrong in order to do what

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they knew was right as an attorney i've spent

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my career in a system built on the foundation

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of those that those 56 men created and i will

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tell you the courage that framework required

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is not abstract to me i have felt it myself early

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in my career i as a practicing attorney had the

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blessing and opportunity to be able to go to

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court i had my first hearing before a court commissioner

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in a family law case it's called a temporary

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orders hearing in a custody case my client was

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the father he he had a child that was young three

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or four years old that desperately needed protection

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Now, we had done the work. We had cross -referenced

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social media posts on MySpace at the time, this

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is how many years ago this was, with dates that

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she was supposed to have the child, that she

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had her parent time nights where she had said

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things on social media like she was blackout

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drunk, like she was drunk again, she didn't remember

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anything that happened. So we had all of our

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own public admissions on the time that she was

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supposed to have this child. And yet, having

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done the work, I was nervous. I had never done

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a family law court hearing before. And this one

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carried real weight for a real child that needed

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real protection. But I prepared. I believed in

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my training. I believed in the law. I believed

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in what was right. And I walked in anyway. And

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thankfully, my client won. He was granted sole

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physical custody of his child with important

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restrictions placed on the opposing party. And

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that child's life was made safer because someone,

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my client and myself, were willing to show up,

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be vulnerable in my inexperience and something

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brand new to my client as well, and try to do

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what was right. Now, this is what the founders

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did on a very different scale of course, with

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high, high personal stakes. James Clear said,

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every action you take is a vote for the type

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of person you wish to become. Every step I took

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into that courtroom was a vote. Every step Jefferson

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took toward the quill was a vote. Not just for

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what he or they wanted to accomplish, but for

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who they were declaring themselves to be. At

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my firm, one of our core values is simple. Have

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courage and be kind. It comes from another Disney

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movie, a favorite of mine, the live -action Cinderella.

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And while today we are firmly in national treasure

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territory, I've never been able to separate these

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ideas. Courage without kindness is recklessness,

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and kindness without courage is just niceness

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or politeness. Now, when the founders wrote the

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document, they had both. They wrote to King George

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with extraordinary precision and care, even as

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they were declaring independence from him. The

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Declaration of Independence is, among many things,

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a masterpiece of respectful defiance. They named

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their grievances, they made their case, and then

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they drew the line. Firm. resolute, unapologetically

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courageous. That balance is something we have

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largely lost in public discourse. The Founding

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Fathers showed us a third path, to be honest,

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to be clear, to be kind, and be absolutely unwilling

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to back down from what is right. Here's one of

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the most important things about the Declaration

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of Independence that sometimes we forget. When

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they signed it, They had not won the war. They

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had not established the country. They had not

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even survived this summer yet. The declaration

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was not a report of what had happened. It was

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a statement of what they believed before the

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evidence was in. This is the hardest version

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of courage. Not the courage to say, I told you

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so after the victory. The courage to declare

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your conviction before you know whether you will

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win. In National Treasure, there is a moment

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that captures this perfectly. Ben Gates had already

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tried to warn the authorities. He had gone through

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the proper channels because somebody had said

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they were going to steal the Declaration of Independence.

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But nobody listened. Nobody believed in him.

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And nobody was going to. So when someone asks

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him, why does it have to be you? Why can't someone

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else handle this? He answers in three simple

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words. Someone has to. Not because he is the

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most qualified, not because he has the institutional

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backing, not because he has a guarantee that

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it will work. Just because nobody else was going

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to. And he had decided that was reason enough.

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The founding fathers understood this exactly.

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Nobody else was going to stand up to the most

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powerful empire in the world on behalf of a group

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of colonies that had not proven they could survive

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on their own. Nobody was going to write that

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document. Nobody else was going to sign it, except

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somebody had to. On this 250th anniversary, also

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poses this question to you personally, in your

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own life, in your work, your relationships, your

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community. Where have you been waiting for someone

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else to go first? Where have you been telling

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yourself that someone more qualified, more prepared,

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More certain of the outcome should be the one

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to step up. Because the founding fathers were

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not more qualified than you. They were just done

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waiting. Simon Sinek said, leaders are the ones

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who have the courage to go first, to put themselves

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at personal risk, to open the path for others

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to follow. The founders went first. They put

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themselves at personal risk. and every generation

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since has followed the path they opened now your

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declaration does not have to be a revolution

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but it should be honest and it should be yours

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250 years ago 56 ordinary men did something extraordinary

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they were not mythical figures they were attorneys

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farmers mechanics and physicians who were by

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any reasonable measure scared The system they

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built was not perfect, and they knew that. But

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they built it to be improved, argued over, and

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protected by every generation that followed.

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As an attorney, I do not see the law as simply

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a set of rules. I see it as a living commitment

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to the ideals that were declared in that building,

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in that document, 250 years ago this July. And

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being here today, I feel the full weight of that

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commitment. The question is not whether the founders

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were courageous. History answered that. The question

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is whether we are. So here are my three recommended

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actionable takeaways. Number one, read it. Read

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the Declaration of Independence this week, not

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as a history assignment, but as a personal one.

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Read the name to the bottom. Let it land that

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these were real people with real families who

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risked real lives to give you and I what we have

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now. It'll take you less than 10 minutes. Do

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it before July 4th. Takeaway two, name it. Identify

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one area of your life where you have been playing

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it safe when courage is actually called for.

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Write it down. This is your personal declaration.

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The founders did not win their freedom by simply

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thinking about it. They named it in ink for the

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world to see. Takeaway three. declared. Now go

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one step further. Write down the one specific

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courageous action you will take to face the thing

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you just named. Not someday, this week. As Benjamin

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Franklin said, never put off to tomorrow what

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you can do today. As you lead this conversation,

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remember that yes, the past can hurt and you

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can either run from it or you can learn from

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it. So here's to learning and finding joy in

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the journey. See you real soon.