Lessons Learned

About the Book

Distinguished Historian David McCullough once said: “History shows us how to behave.” Lessons Learned is a sweeping, unflinching indictment of humanity’s chronic inability to act on the clearest warnings nature has ever given us. Drawing on every major pandemic from the Antoine Plague (165-180 CE) through the 1918 influenza, HIV/AIDS, SARS-2003, H1N1-2009, Ebola 2014-2016, and COVID-19, the book highlights a near-perfect pattern: initial denial, a fragmented response, politization of basic science, scapegoating, and finally collective amnesia once the acute crisis fades. Author James W. Merritt Jr., who served in the Indiana State Senate for thirty years, pays particular attention to the United States of America, which has dismantled early-warning systems despite the global eradication of smallpox, conquering polio in the Americas, and the production of antibiotics and vaccines at wartime speed. At its core, the book argues that technological brilliance is meaningless without political and cultural readiness. It notes that COVID-19 was the seventeenth novel respiratory virus threat since 1918, each one flashing a warning brighter than the last. The final section of the book lays out a pragmatic, politically feasible blueprint for fighting future pandemics.

About the Author

James W. Merritt Jr. is a lifelong Hoosier, statesman, and passionate steward of Indiana’s history. Born and raised in Indianapolis, he devoted more than three decades to public service as a member of the Indiana State Senate until he stepped away in November 2020. During his thirty-year tenure, he earned a reputation as principled conservative who worked to protect and promote the state’s rich heritage.