American Battlefield Trust — January 2020

Originally published January 2020 · p. 8

On Monday, November 4, 2019, Jim Lighthizer — President of the American Battlefield Trust — announced his retirement in the following letter to Trust members and supporters:

Jim Lighthizer

(James Salzano)

For more than 20 years, you and I have been part of something exceptional – a movement to build a legacy that will last forever. Since the first day I stepped into this position as your president, I knew it would be the greatest job I would ever hold. I decided soon thereafter that it would be the last job I would ever hold. My two decades of service as president of this organization have been the best of my career, primarily because I got to work with passionate and generous people like you who care so much about saving our country’s incomparable history. Today, I write to tell you personally that I have decided to retire from my position as the dayto-day president and CEO of the American Battlefield Trust. My health is fine, but I will be 74 years old in March, so this is a natural time in my professional career to make this transition. The Board of Trustees is currently conducting a national executive search to find the strongest possible successor, but I assure you that this transition won’t happen overnight. In fact, I have committed to stay on as long as needed to ensure we get the “right person for the job.” While I will miss being at the helm of this extraordinary effort, I am humbled and grateful to be able to step down, brimming with pride at all you and I have accomplished. Furthermore, you should know that while I may be retiring as president, I have no intention of “leaving” the Trust. While I certainly look forward to having more time to travel and be with my family, I am also excited about remaining on the Board of Trustees as President Emeritus. I will also be available to help and advise the new CEO upon request and participate in the Trust’s advocacy efforts with lawmakers and in major preservation efforts. In short, I will be available to help in any way that enhances the mission of this incredible organization, for many years still to come. I fully expect the new CEO will do some things differently, but I assure you on one key point: No one in the Trust leadership sees my retirement as an opportunity to move the organization in a different direction. Our mission remains the same—land preservation and history education— and we still have a lot of work to do. When I took on this role in 1999, we had preserved 7,000 acres. Since then, thanks to generous patriots like you, our partners and the amazing team here at the Trust, we’ve grown our membership, broadened our mission, and forever preserved nearly 52,000 acres of hallowed battlefield land. Like you, I take immense pride in knowing that we have saved forever these important landscapes, ensuring that future generations can visit and learn from them. In fact, if I’m totally honest, I’m looking forward to having more time to visit these places with my own grandchildren! The truth is that while I have been the “face” of the organization for nearly 20 years, and leaders generally get credit for victories (and must accept blame for defeats), I consider one of my greatest legacies to be the dedicated Board of Trustees, management team, and staff of the American Battlefield Trust. Without the hard work they do day in and day out, supported by the generosity of tens of thousands of passionate preservationists like you, I could never have made such strides toward accomplishing this mission that means so much to all of us. I hope you are as proud as I am of all we’ve achieved together – and a toast, my friend, to the next 20 years! With deepest gratitude, your obed’t serv’t, Jim Lighthizer President American Battlefield Trust