Joni Ernst - Daughter of the heartland: My Ode to the Country that Raised Me

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Copyright 2020 by Senator Joni Ernst

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First Threshold Editions hardcover edition May 2020

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Interior design by Jaime Putorti

Jacket photograph by Doug Coulter

Author photograph by Suzanne Chapuis

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Ernst, Joni, 1970 author.

Title: Daughter of the heartland : my ode to the country that raised me /Senator Joni Ernst.

Description: New York : Threshold Editions, 2020. | Summary: A candid, down-to-earth account of Iowa junior senator and veteran Joni Ernsts journey from farm girl to politician, and how those values inform her current political career in Washington, DCProvided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020005087 (print) | LCCN 2020005088 (ebook) | ISBN 9781982144869 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781982144876 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9781982144883 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Ernst, Joni, 1970 | Iowa. General Assembly. SenateBiography. | United States. Congress. SenateBiography. | LegislatorsUnited StatesBiography. | LegislatorsIowaBiography.

Classification: LCC E901.1.E76 A3 2020 (print) | LCC E901.1.E76 (ebook) | DDC 328.73/092 [B]dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020005087

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020005088

ISBN 978-1-9821-4486-9

ISBN 978-1-9821-4488-3 (ebook)

To Libby, who gives me joy and makes me proud and to Mom, who has always been there

I ve worn many hats in my lifetimeas a farm girl growing up in a rural community, as a mother raising a daughter who has delighted me and made me proud, as a soldier at home and abroad, and now as a United States senator. But one identity has been the continuous line through everything else Ive doneI am an Iowan, a daughter of the heartland.

Iowa is the heartland not just because its in the center of the country, but also because its vital to the life of the nation. Mark Twain, who lived for a time in Iowa when he was young, wrote of it in 1863, the basin of the Mississippi is the BODY OF THE NATION. All the other parts are but members.

Iowa has always been an aspirational place. First settled thousands of years ago by Native Americans, and part of the great surge west in the 1800s, it became the twenty-ninth state in 1846. By 1854, it was hosting the Iowa State Fair, which remains a signature event to this day. American settlers came to Iowa for the fertile lands and the wide-open spaces, believing that anything was possible away from the congested urban coastline. That sense of promise was in the soil and in the sturdy determination and courage of the people who left the relative security of the East for its unexplored terrain.

Raised in the aspirational heartland, I developed the tenacity that allowed me to pursue my goals. I have my Iowa grounding to thank for my career in the military and state governmentand in 2015, I carried my dreams all the way to the United States Senate in Washington, D.C. But I never left Iowa. The genius of our representative government is that Congress is beholden to the local communities. So, everything I do springs from my commitment to serving Iowa and Iowans.

This book is my ode to the heartland I love and the spirit that shaped me. Its the story of the American dream of a farm girl, but more than that, its an exploration of the values Ive lived, and how Ive strived to uphold them. I admit that its a very human story, just one of millions of Americans. Like most people, I struggle with failures as well as successesin my marriage, in my ability to get everything I want accomplished. But, with that good old-fashioned Iowa perseverance, I keep moving forward.

We live in a time when media coverage of public officials tends toward the salacious, and were led to believe that people wont pay attention unless were screaming at each other. Both sides demonize their opponents and make them into caricatures of evil. It can get exhausting. But I refuse to accept that its the only way to operate. I learned in the military that you can be tough without being mean, and that the mission requires people to be united in a higher purpose. In the Senate, one of my biggest goals is to cut through the noise and work with everyone who shares my goalseven if they are on the other side of the aisle. Iowans pride ourselves on listening and sharing, which are values that can seem in short supply on the national stage.

As I write this, we are moving into an election seasonand a reelection season for me. I know that many political figures write books to coincide with their campaigns. Daughter of the Heartland is in part a reflection on my political life, but it is much more than that. Iowans tend to be circumspect in talking about themselves, and thats the way I was raised, too. But I decided it was important at this moment in our history for me to open up and share what it has meant to be a woman winning a place at the tableproving that I can overcome barriers that all women in the military and government encounter. This process has also meant facing some private battles that are painful but necessary to talk about. In politics, we often resist exposing our most personal selves, worrying about showing any sign of weakness. And as women we tend to blame ourselves when we suffer from domestic violence or assault. By telling my story, I hope I can help other women see their troubles in a more empowering lightas well as showing my own daughter the importance of standing up for herself when others try to put her down.

I bring to my narrative strong beliefs about what it means to serve, and how to heal the divisions that afflict our political process. As I pause to think about my life and to consider the coming year, I see 2020 as an inflection point. Running for reelection is a measurably different experience than the first run. In 2014, I was full of ideas and aspirations for Iowa; today, my ideas are enriched by experience. I can evaluate my successes and failures with a clear eye, and lay out my plans for a second term with a confidence hard won over my first term. Serving in the Senate has strengthened my appreciation of who we are as a people, and what we can aspire to be. We can experience crisis, we can fall down and pick ourselves up, we can suffer and cry and move through hardship, but in the end, we are all a part of this wonderful vision of America.

This is the story of my journey, told through the prism of five defining concepts: home, service, commitment, leadership, and grit. These are the core values that have inspired me, driven me, and supported me during my forty-nine years. They can seem abstract, and they often get stripped of their meaning because we use them so glibly. Thats why I decided to wrap them in my experiencesthe stories I tell about my life, from the farmlands of Iowa to the halls of Congress.