Battle for the American Mind: Uprooting a Century of Miseducation

Pete Hegseth · David Goodwin

Jun 2022 · Sold by HarperCollins

About this ebook

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

FOX News host Pete Hegseth is back with what he says is his most important book yet: A revolutionary road map to saving our children from leftist indoctrination. 

Behind a smokescreen of “preparing students for the new industrial economy,” early progressives had political control in mind. America’s original schools didn’t just make kids memorize facts or learn skills; they taught them to think freely and arrive at wisdom. They assigned the classics, inspired love of God and country, and raised future citizens that changed the world forever. 

Today, after 16,000 hours of K-12 indoctrination, our kids come out of government schools hating America. They roll their eyes at religion and disdain our history. We spend more money on education than ever, but kids can barely read and write—let alone reason with discernment. Western culture is on the ropes. Kids are bored and aimless, flailing for purpose in a system that says racial and gender identity is everything.

Battle for the American Mind is the untold story of the Progressive plan to neutralize the basis of our Republic – by removing the one ingredient that had sustained Western Civilization for thousands of years. Pete Hegseth and David Goodwin explain why, no matter what political skirmishes conservatives win, progressives are winning the war—and control the “supply lines” of future citizens.  Reversing this reality will require parents to radically reorient their children’s education; even most homeschooling and Christian schooling are infused with progressive assumptions. We need to recover a lost philosophy of education – grounded in virtue and excellence – that can arm future generations to fight for freedom. It’s called classical Christian education. Never heard of it? You’re not alone.

Battle for the American Mind is more than a book; it’s a field guide for remaking school in the United States. We’ve ceded our kids’ minds to the left for far too long—this book gives patriotic parents the ammunition to join an insurgency that gives America a fighting chance.

Whether you're a conservative looking to push back against the progressive agenda or simply someone who cares about the education of our children, this book is for you.

Ratings and reviews

The ultimate best purpose of all education is to teach a person how to think, not what to think. American education has become focused on many of the wrong things, from a purely political agenda. Being able to read & write clearly, calculate, explore and be a constant learner of the world is the best foundation in life. This book lays out where it all went wrong, why it continues to go astray, and a better way for all our children to develop and learn. Highly recommended.

This book is doing exactly what it claims it is against. This book is an attempt at radicalizing people.

A partisan attempt to play politics with education by a fox news employee.

About the author

Pete Hegseth is a husband, father, patriot, and Christian. He is the co-host of Fox & Friends Weekend, America’s number one cable morning show, and he has hosted multiple Fox Nation documentaries. A graduate of both Princeton and Harvard, he is the New York Times bestselling author of In the Arena, Modern Warriors, American Crusade, and Battle for the American Mind. Pete is an Army veteran of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay, and has earned two Bronze Stars and a Combat Infantryman’s Badge.

David Goodwin grew up on an Idaho farm, spent more than a decade in big tech, and quit to help found The Ambrose School in Boise, Idaho. He is the editor of The Classical Difference Magazine.