10/30/2025
Principles Over Pageantry: A Navy Veteran’s Blueprint for a Stronger Democracy
PROSPERITY, S.C., Oct. 29, 2025 — In a time when political posturing often overshadows genuine civic duty, Navy veteran and historic preservation leader Michael Bedenbaugh is calling on Americans to reclaim responsibility for the nation’s future. His new book, Reviving Our Republic: 95 Theses for the Future of America, outlines how everyday citizens can safeguard democracy and strengthen the foundations of the republic through practical action.
Bedenbaugh warns against what George Washington called “impostures of pretended patriotism” — performative displays that substitute spectacle for substance.
“The strength of America has never been in grand gestures or applause,” Bedenbaugh said. “It is in the steady courage of citizens who uphold the principles of liberty, accountability and responsible governance.”
In Reviving Our Republic, Bedenbaugh draws inspiration from Martin Luther's historic call for reform, Ninety-five Theses, and reinterprets the country’s founding principles for modern 21st-century challenges. The result is a bold blueprint for addressing the most pressing problems facing the nation today.
Grounded in lessons across history from Washington’s Farewell Address to the Citizens United decision of 2010 that enabled the influence of corporations on policy, Reviving Our Republic is a fresh approach to restructuring American governance, with 40 actionable proposals aimed at fostering a more responsive, accountable government.
In this blend of practical experience and scholarly insight, readers will learn:
• Proposals to reform the electoral system, including methods that ensure broader voter consensus in elections and changes to the Electoral College
• Strategies to curb corporate influence in politics and strengthen individual liberty, and to give voice to a wider range of perspectives
• A plan to restore the balance between federal and local powers, reviving true federalism in our government
• Methods to ensure fiscally responsible governance and address the national debt crisis
• Ways to realign foreign policy with the constitutional vision of limiting foreign entanglements
Written with concerned voters, community leaders, and students of politics, history and economics in mind, Reviving Our Republic offers a revolutionary approach to reform that Bedenbaugh hopes will inspire America’s citizens to engage in a path forward guided by shared principles and responsibility.
“Restoring our Republic is not optional — it’s essential for America’s survival,” Bedenbaugh said. “This is a turning point in our history. Either we choose the hard work of responsible citizenship now, or we allow division and corruption to decide our future for us. The time to act is today.”
Reviving Our Republic: 95 Theses for the Future of America
Publisher: Map Media LLC
ISBN-13: ‎979-8991422604
Available from:
The United States is in a partisan gridlock. As our constitutional principles erode away and the decline of civic engagement threatens the foundation of American democracy, navy veteran turned preservation leader Michael Bedenbaugh presents a compelling vision for the future of our country. ...
