Jamie Raskin
Few Americans endured more personal and political anguish in early January 2021 than Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland. Just days after the suicide of his son Tommy, Raskin found himself trapped inside the U.S. Capitol during the violent January 6 assault on American democracy. Alongside his daughter and son-in-law, he barricaded himself behind a door as rioters - fueled by Donald Trump’s lies and incendiary rhetoric surrounding the 2020 election - stormed the building in search of lawmakers.
While still in the earliest stages of overwhelming grief, Raskin agreed to serve as lead impeachment manager during Trump’s second impeachment trial. He was well-suited for this responsibility. Before entering Congress, Raskin spent more than 25 years teaching constitutional law at American University’s Washington College of Law. Drawing on decades of constitutional scholarship, he helped craft and present the case accusing Trump of inciting insurrection.
Following the impeachment, Raskin played a critical role in the proceedings of the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack. In the years since, he has remained actively engaged in efforts to defend rule of law and democratic norms in the face of an unprecedented attack by domestic anti-democratic forces.
Not one to remain idle for more than a nanosecond, Raskin also published a bestselling memoir in January 2022, titled Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy. The book recounts the experience of enduring profound personal grief while navigating a constitutional crisis. It candidly describes his son’s long struggle with depression and his death by suicide and reflects Raskin’s desire to reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness.
Raskin is also a two-time cancer survivor, including a battle with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Even while undergoing treatment, he continued performing his congressional and oversight responsibilities.
Earlier in his career, Raskin served as general counsel to the National Rainbow Coalition and later represented independent presidential candidate Ross Perot in litigation over exclusion from presidential debates. In 1999, he co-founded the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project, which teaches constitutional law and moot court advocacy to high school students.
“If a person can grow through unthinkable trauma and loss, perhaps a nation can too.”
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 10, 2024