“I…do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter. So help me God.”

The oath of office required for service in the military, in the federal civil service and even as a member of Congress has one central focus: the Constitution of the United States of America. This oath is something with which Ron DeSantis is familiar, as he has sworn the oath in a variety of capacities—as an active duty military officer, as a prosecutor and as member of the reserve component of the U.S. Navy.

Like most who swear the oath, he takes the solemn duty to support and defend the Constitution seriously. And like many Americans, he became disgusted by political elites who display ignorance of—and in some instances, an outright contempt for—the very Constitution they swore to uphold. He wrote Dreams From Our Founding Fathers because he saw the nation moving away from the enduring principles that the Constitution reflects and upon which the nation was founded.

During his time as a prosecutor he maintained a full-time caseload of felony-level cases under both military and federal civilian law, including cases involving negligent homicide, child abuse, child exploitation, fraud, theft of sensitive military property and public corruption. He also prosecuted notable cases concerning interference with military air navigation and “stolen valor” offenses.

DeSantis deployed to Iraq during the counterinsurgency troop “surge” with Naval Special Warfare SEAL Team ONE for the squadron’s deployment to Iraq. While deployed in Iraq, he served on the staff of the Navy SEAL theater commander, supporting mission planning, managing detainee operations, conducting investigations, and facilitating prosecutions of captured insurgents in Iraqi courts. He also served at the Guantanamo Bay detention center, supporting detention operations regarding War on Terror detainees in a variety of capacities. Since leaving active duty, DeSantis has served as an officer in the reserve component of the United States Navy, where he has investigated felony-level offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Born in Jacksonville, FL, Ron DeSantis attended Yale University, where he was the varsity baseball captain and a four-year starter and letterman, graduating magna cum laude with distinction in the major of History. He also graduated with honors from Harvard Law School. His writing has appeared in National Review, The Washington Times, Human Events, The American Thinker and The American Spectator.