When Steve Ballmer retired from Microsoft after a long and storied career, he realized that he didn’t know exactly how and where U.S. tax dollars got spent. And it wasn’t as easy to find as he had hoped. So he set out to solve the problem — and founded USA Facts, which consolidates available data and makes it accessible to citizens.

He joined host Andrew Kaufmann and the Bush Institute’s Chris Walsh to discuss why having that data easily accessible is so important to our democracy.

Hear more from Steve about USA Facts, pluralism, and even the Mavericks-Clippers playoff match-up on this episode of The Strategerist, presented by the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

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USA Facts

David French is a writer and columnist for The New York Times – informed by a career that began as a litigator, turned to the Army as a JAG officer and then Bronze Star awardee after volunteering to deploy to Iraq as part of the Surge, and finally to journalism.

He joined host Andrew Kaufmann and the Bush Institute’s Chris Walsh at the 2024 Forum on Leadership to discuss the “exhausted majority” of Americans today who are tired of toxic polarization, the sometimes dangerous reactions he’s received from his writing, and why instilling a sense of purpose in citizens is essential.

Hear more from David on this episode of The Strategerist, presented by the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

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Former White House Social Secretaries from multiple administrations recently traveled to Dallas for a special Engage at the Bush Center, presented by NexPoint event.

Amy Zantzinger, social secretary for President and Mrs. Bush, and Jeremy Bernard, social secretary for President and Mrs. Obama, joined host Andrew Kaufmann beforehand to discuss the responsibilities of their job, their favorite White House events, and the lessons they learned in this important role.

Hear more from Amy and Jeremy on this episode of The Strategerist, presented by the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

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• A Conversation with White House Social Secretaries