Henry Wallace's Warning and the State of Civics Education in Iowa

October 8, 2026 - 05:57

Ed Wasserman often returns to a piece of advice from Vice President Henry A. Wallace, who believed that democracy holds the strength to defeat what he called the infectious disease of fascism. Wallace, an Iowa native, understood that free institutions do not protect themselves. They require citizens who know how they work and why they matter.

That idea lands with particular weight in Iowa, where debates over what schools should teach about government, history, and civic duty have grown louder in recent years. Lawmakers have pushed to reshape curriculum standards, limit certain classroom discussions, and redefine what students learn about the nation's past. Supporters call it a return to basics. Critics say it leaves young people with a thinner understanding of how power, protest, and participation actually function.

Wasserman's point is not that any single lesson plan will save the republic. It is that a population unfamiliar with its own system becomes easy to mislead. Civics education, done well, teaches students to ask questions, weigh evidence, and recognize when leaders trade fear for loyalty.

Wallace warned that fascism does not always arrive in uniform. It can grow quietly wherever people stop paying attention. Iowa's classrooms are one place where that attention is either cultivated or lost.