Dr. Benjamin S. Carson, Sr. on His Life and the Importance of America’s Founding Principles
In our badly fractured society, can public servants and politicians act with decency and argue about policy with restraint and dignity? We believe the answer is yes, and so Wesley invited a man on the show who epitomizes such virtues to talk about his varied career and the importance of the nation’s founding principles.
Dr. Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., MD, was born in Detroit to a single mother with a third-grade education, who raised her son to love reading and learning. He graduated from Yale University and earned his M.D. from the University of Michigan Medical School.
For nearly 30 years, Dr. Carson served as Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, a position he assumed when he was just 33 years old, becoming the youngest major division director in the hospital’s history. In 1987, he successfully performed the first separation of craniopagus twins conjoined at the back of the head.
In 2016, Dr. Carson was a presidential candidate and later served as the 17th Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the first Trump Administration.
His newest endeavor is as Founder and Chairman of the American Cornerstone Institute, a new organization whose stated mission is to promote the four founding principles which are cornerstones of our country — faith, liberty, community, and life — as well as pursuing common sense solutions that challenge conventional groupthink.
Dr. Carson has received dozens of honors and awards in recognition of his achievements including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Dr. Carson and his wife Candy Carson co-founded the Carson Scholars Fund, which recognizes young people of all backgrounds for exceptional academic and humanitarian accomplishments. The Fund is currently operating in 50 states and the District of Columbia and has now awarded more than $8 million in scholarships.
He has authored several books, five of which were co-authored with Candy, including The Perilous Fight: Overcoming Our Culture’s War on the American Family. The couple are the proud parents of three adult sons and many grandchildren.