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National Treasure and the Courage to Declare | Ryan Gregerson · Yes And Land

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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.