What a Difference a Year Makes

As the Christmas holidays beckon, it's time not just to look ahead to warm gatherings of family and friends, but to take stock of where the year has taken us.

SUPPORT NRI THIS HOLIDAY SEASON Dear Friend of NR, It's that time of year again.  As the Christmas holidays beckon, it's time not just to look ahead to warm gatherings of family and friends, but to take stock of where the year has taken us. Suffice it to say, 2024 has been a wild ride.  It's also time for me, as a proud member of National Review Institute's 1955 Society, to do what I'm humbly urging you to do: make a contribution to support the work we do at National Review Institute, the nonprofit journalistic think tank that supports the NR mission. We look ahead to 2025 aware of great challenges ahead, and yet with great hope.  Just think about where we stood this time last year. The nation seemed rudderless and doomed to remain that way with an incumbent president in stark decline—even a prosecutor handpicked by his own Justice Department folded an investigation upon concluding that the leader of the free world lacked the mental acuity to grapple with a criminal investigation.  That was not the case with his challenger, however. Regarding the former president, Democrats had decided: If you can't beat him, indict him. And so they did, no fewer than four times, calculating that if they couldn't run on their own administration's record, they'd run on Donald Trump's criminal record—and make sure he amassed one. Meantime, Israel confronted a seven-front war, orchestrated by Iran and its jihadist proxies, beginning with Hamas and its atrocious October 7 attack, and sustained by Hezbollah, which began aerial attacks the following day. This, as war raged in Europe, with Putin's brutal campaign against Ukraine. Our greatest geopolitical foe, China, eyed Taiwan with increasing menace. Its junior partner in North Korea (we also know him as "Little Rocket Man") tied this axis of aggression together by supplying Moscow with troops and Tehran with missile technology. GIVE TODAY At National Review, we had all of it covered—indeed, our Jim Geraghty was in the thick of it, providing vital insight from Ukraine and Taiwan. As always, Rich Lowry and Ramesh Ponnuru led our team of peerless political analysts through the twists and turns of the 2024 election—and man, were there twists and turns!  The most unusual of them was the aforementioned lawfare campaign, and I take pride in saying our team—our reporters and legal beagles, including yours truly—gave you the most objective, comprehensive coverage you could find anyplace.  Moreover, with an election decided, first and foremost, by the economy—with voters able to contrast the inflation and strained home budgets of the past four years with how things seemed in the high-flying pre-Covid days of what we can now call Trump I—no one navigated you better than Andrew Stuttaford, Dominic Pino, David Bahnsen, and the other writers and commentators who drive NRI's Capital Matters project. What a difference a year makes. President Biden's senescence became too patent to ignore, and he was sidelined from the race. With a big assist from the Supreme Court's landmark decision in the immunity case, Donald Trump overcame lawfare and stormed to an impressive victory: Winning not just the Electoral College but also the popular vote, he is poised to take office in just a few weeks with Republican majorities—narrow, to be sure—in both congressional chambers. For now, at least, they're making most of the right sounds about shaking off the malaise and driving sound conservative policies. We'll need them. Israel's astonishing military and intelligence successes have turned its darkest hours into the light of opportunity. But it's not out of the woods yet. Strong American leadership will be essential to assuring a victory that rolls back the new axis powers. War in Europe has exhausted the combatants, but with Russia's weakness on display, there are some hopeful glimmers of a settlement Ukrainians can abide. And if Trump II imitates Trump I, the administration will feature serious thinkers about confronting China and our other adversaries with American strength—deterrence, not appeasement. It's a new day, a new year, and a new administration. What will stay consistent is the mission of NR and NRI. That's especially significant as we prepare a year-long commemoration of our founder, William F. Buckley Jr., on the centennial of his birth. WFB dedicated his life to perpetuating the American experiment—freedom, virtue, economic liberty, strong national defense, and a clear-eyed understanding of our enemies and their designs. It is in this spirit that he founded NR and NRI.  That is why it is such a privilege and a joy to work here. It's also why I am contributing to the cause, and I'm asking you to do the same. Please support National Review Institute with a tax-deductible, year-end gift today. We need you. As we look ahead with optimism, we wish you joyous holidays, a Merry Christmas, and a happy, healthy 2025. All the best, Andrew C. McCarthy NRI Fellow P.S. Time is running out to contribute to NRI in 2024. Please click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. GIVE TODAY VIEW ALL OF OUR UPCOMING EVENTS HERE National Review Institute is a non-profit, 501(c)(3), journalistic think tank that preserves and promotes William F. Buckley Jr.'s legacy and advances the principles of a free society through educational and outreach programs. All contributions to it are deductible for income, gift, and estate tax purposes. EIN# 13-3649537 National Review Institute 19 West 44th Street, Suite 1701 New York, NY 10036  info@nrinstitute.org · 212.849.2806 · www.nrinstitute.org    19 West 44th Street, Ste. 1701, New York, NY, 10036 Your Preferences | Unsubscribe | Privacy View this e-mail in your browser. Facebook | Twitter | Instagram