Opinion - Leland Vittert's War Notes: Born Lucky

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01-04-2025

NewsNation Chief Washington Anchor and On Balance host Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He gives you an early look at tonight's 9 pm ET show. Subscribe to War Notes here.
We heard from a lot of you after my Father's Day essay – read it here.
But the essay is a very small part of a larger story – that story comes out September 30 in my new book, 'Born Lucky.'
Special thanks to my co-author Don Yaeger – he's taught me far more about writing, reporting and the human equation than four years of journalism school did.
Click here to preorder.
Click here to watch the launch video
There are about 15 million American kids, and roughly 20% have a diagnosis of a mental, behavioral or developmental disorder.
And Lord knows parts of the other 80% deal with constant problems, from bullying and self-esteem to making friends and academics.
I am writing 'Born Lucky' to give them and their parents hope.
I'm living proof you don't have to be defined by your diagnosis – as a little boy, child psychologists told my parents I have what we now know as autism.
My middle school principal told my parents that I was quite weird – they were both right.
YIKES: I didn't talk until I was three.
Among many problems, it led to bullying, of course.
I had no friends – and teachers got in on the fun too.
In the 8th grade, my art teacher said in front of the entire class that if his dog was as ugly as me, he would shave its ass and make it walk backward.
My dad made me go to art class the next day with the same teacher.
And that's what this story is about – my dad.
Realization: Dad refused to allow psychologists to diagnose me with anything. He knew the world wouldn't change for me – he had to change me. This is that story.
Dedication: He sold his company, stopped his career and dedicated the next 18 years of his life to helping me.
Dad decided pushups would whip my 7-year-old body into shape so that no schoolyard bully would dare mess with me – soon, he had me doing 200 pushups a day.
Unable to read social cues, he would take me to dinners.
When I became too loud or off rhythm, he would casually tap his watch.
That was my signal to stop talking – later we postgamed what I had missed.
Unwavering standards: My diagnosis as having an IQ spread from genius on half of the test to mentally retarded on others would have gotten me significant special treatment. That was en vogue during the late 1980s and 90s.
Dad knew a cruel world after high school would not make such accommodations. He was right.
He became my best friend for a long time – my only friend, protector, cheerleader and harshest critic.
Journey: Those lessons took me from a kid who could barely talk and didn't understand basic social interaction around the world to:
The White House North Lawn.
The battlefields of the Middle East.
The anchor desk of two national networks.
This is the love story of a father who quit his job to help his son – and how with a lot of love, hard work and unyielding standards, you don't have to be defined by a diagnosis. Nobody does.
Be smart: I know what you are thinking – the world doesn't need a TV journalist, of all people, lecturing parents about how to fix their autistic kids. And you are right – but that's not what this is about.
Hope: This is about giving hope to tens of millions of parents whose kids are struggling every day – not just with autism and the spectrum but ADHD, learning disabilities, anxiety, bullying and the difficulties of growing up.
Truth: Your kid doesn't have to be defined by the diagnosis.
Life in the real world doesn't give participation trophies.
And the experts aren't always right.
I've never talked about this before, but it's time to say thank you to my dad.
Click here to preorder the book.
Friends, don't take my word on the book, read the announcement from the great Mike Allen at Axios here.
Best line: 'Mark Vittert — once the future anchorman's only friend — is now his golf partner.'
Now onto the news!
Think about President Donald Trump's week:
An upcoming choice for American 'Liberation Day' of:
Appearing weak and backing off from tariffs.
Or crashing the American economy with them.
Mixed stocks on Monday show Wall Street's discomfort with the uncertainty ahead.
SignalGate.
A Ukraine-Russia ceasefire deal is all but hopeless.
Trump even telling NBC News that he is 'very angry' and 'pissed off' at Putin.
The race to fill former representative turned national security adviser Mike Waltz's seat in Florida is looking too close for comfort for Republicans.
The House GOP already holds a very slim majority over Democrats, and the majority in the House is critical for Trump to move his agenda forward.
Plus, the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, which is also too close for comfort for Trump.
Elon Musk held a town hall in Wisconsin on Sunday in support of the conservative candidate.
Now think about what the media is talking about:
The superimportant story of this Monday: Who controls the seating chart in the White House press briefing room?
What if Trump runs for a third term, three years and nine months from now?
Kid Rock's visit to the Oval Office.
Boom! All of Trump's problems are solved.
President Trump isn't joking when he says he has not ruled out running for a third term – he is trolling.
Trump is an expert at changing the newscycle away from things that are bad for him.
Tariff troubles: They aren't tax cuts as Peter Navarro wants you to believe.
You trust us to tell you the truth – tariffs aren't tax cuts.
They are taxes paid by consumers.
Read conservative commentator Erick Erickson's latest post on Substack with moral clarity on Trump's belief in tariffs.
Just because the media is out to get Trump, it doesn't mean they are always wrong.
'Why Trump's auto tariffs will hurt his working-class supporters,' headlines Reuters.
Trump and his top trade adviser, Peter Navarro, can make an argument that tariffs are worth it – but saying they won't raise prices just isn't true.
'We've got the biggest, most pro-worker tax cut in history that's moving forward at a breakneck speed … I think the naysayers will be proven wrong if they're a little bit nervous about the blips from this week to next,' Navarro said about the tariffs on Sunday.
Reality check: Who are you going to believe – Peter Navarro or Ronald Reagan?
Ronald Reagan on tariffs back in 1987:
'At first, when someone first says 'let's impose tariffs of foreign imports,' it looks like they're doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs and sometimes for a short while it works, but only for a short time. What eventually occurs is, first, home grown industries start relying on government protection in the form of high tariffs, they stop competing, and stop making the innovative management and technological changes they need to succeed in world markets. And then while all this is going on something even worse occurs. High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars. The result is more and more tariffs, higher and higher trade barriers, and less and less competition, so soon because of the prices made artificially high by tariffs that subsidize inefficiency and poor management, people stop buying, then the worst happens. Markets shrink and collapse, businesses and industry shut down and millions of people lose their jobs.'
Watch tonight: Bill O'Reilly on how long Trump can play the media.
Will his economic plan work in time?
How does a party that covered up the president in rapid decline regain the trust of the American people?
Starting this week, a series of three books that will make Joe Biden look really bad is coming out.
'Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House,' by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes, which will be released tomorrow.
'Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History,' by Chris Whipple, publishing April 8.
'Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,' by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, which comes out May 20.
These books will expose things the Left and their friends in the media called 'conspiracy theories' that later proved to be true.
This is an indictment of Team Biden and the Left-leaning media but also the Democratic Party at large.
'How Biden's frailties hampered Harris,' writes our partners at The Hill of one upcoming book.
Hey, Democrats!
You are going to have to admit that Harris hampered Harris – it's the double speak and rationalization that got you here in the first place.
Watch tonight: David Pakman, host of 'The David Pakman Show,' on the unique opportunity the books present for Democrats!
Tune into 'On Balance with Leland Vittert' weeknights at 9/8 CT on NewsNation. Find your channel here.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation.
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