Causecast

Originally posted by Anne Driscoll, Tonic.

From Harrison Ford to Neil Armstrong to Barack Obama, some of America’s most well-known celebrities and well-respected leaders have worn a Scout uniform. As the Boy Scouts celebrate 100 years, Tonic takes a look at the history — and values — of an organization that shapes our nation for the better.

Wouldn’t the world be a better place if everyone pledged to be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent? In the past 100 years since the Boy Scouts of America was founded, 112 million boys have raised their right hand to live up to those homespun standards and uphold the Scout Law, earning merit badges and volunteering for service projects ranging from food collection to conservation. And a significant number of scouts have grown into conscientious adults who continue to contribute in ways, large and small, to the social good.

A century ago today, former president Theodore Roosevelt helped found the Boy Scouts of America and served as its first and only Chief Scout Citizen. Since then there have been 18 other US presidents involved with scouting in some capacity, including Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Gerald Ford and John F. Kennedy, each of whom spent at least some of their childhood in a Scouts uniform.

No other US youth organization has served as many boys and none can boast such a long roster of luminaries who have, later in life, made such significant impact in politics, public service, commerce, sports, science and entertainment, to name a few. Today, there are 3 million youth Scout members guided by another 1.1 million adult members involved in volunteer and community service projects, crafting boyhood memories and building a foundation for the men they will become.

Over the years, many notables have attributed their achievements to their association with scouting. Jimmy Stewart, who was a US Air Force Brigadier General, as well as a movie star, was quoted as saying he wouldn’t trade his experiences in Scouting for anything. And just this month, Ed Begley told Tonic that his green roots can be traced to a love of nature that sprouted when he was a scout.

Read the full post on Tonic.

Photo by Todd Frontom, Wikimedia Commons.