Charles Boustany is a student of history — literally, these days.
The former six-term Republican representative from Acadiana is now happily retired from a post-Congress stint in government relations and pursuing a master's degree in history at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. His focus is a timely topic — nationalism — and he's considering getting a Ph.D.
Even before returning to school, Boustany considered himself a student of America’s place in the world and its sacred obligations. What he learned led him to the inescapable conclusion that he can’t possibly back another Donald Trump term as president.
In a season when some (Dick and Liz Cheney), but by no means all (George W. Bush, Mitt Romney), prominent Republicans who reject Trumpism have crossed over to endorse Kamala Harris, Boustany is the highest profile Louisianan to do so. Last week, he publicly joined more than 100 other national security leaders from Congress and past Republican administrations in issuing a blunt evaluation of Trump’s fitness to lead.
Columnist Stephanie Grace
“We believe that the President of the United States must be a principled, serious, and steady leader who can advance and defend American security and values, strengthen our alliances, and protect our democracy. We expect to disagree with Kamala Harris on many domestic and foreign policy issues, but we believe that she possesses the essential qualities to serve as President and Donald Trump does not,” it said.
“Donald Trump’s susceptibility to flattery and manipulation by Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, unusual affinity for other authoritarian leaders, contempt for the norms of decent, ethical and lawful behavior, and chaotic national security decision-making are dangerous qualities — as many honorable Republican colleagues and military officers who served in senior national security positions in his administration have frequently testified. He is unfit to serve again as President, or indeed in any office of public trust.”
Also signing the letter was another prominent Louisianan, Sean O’Keefe, the Loyola grad and former LSU chancellor who served as President George H.W. Bush’s Secretary of the Navy and his son’s NASA Administrator.
But Boustany’s endorsement stands out given his long history as a Republican elected official.
That he spoke out from the safe space of political retirement is surely a big piece of the story. Trump famously keeps count of who bows to him and who doesn’t, and with varying degrees of enthusiasm, most who currently serve have fallen in line.
Boustany said in an interview last week that he’s had doubts ever since Trump emerged as a political figure in 2016. But, as a candidate for U.S. Senate in a race that John Kennedy ultimately won, he held his nose and voted for Trump anyway.
“I didn’t want to do it because I saw what he was back then," Boustany said recently. "I saw what he would do to the Republican Party, and also (had) concerns about international relations. And of course, he got into office and that all played out.”
In 2020, Boustany cast his first-ever presidential vote for a Democrat, Joe Biden. He’d hoped to return to the GOP fold this year, and endorsed Nikki Haley before she dropped out. Left with no acceptable Republican choice, he was prepared to back Biden again. When Biden left the ticket, Boustany reached out to former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, now a Harris campaign co-chair, and offered his endorsement.
Boustany’s never met Harris, who entered the Senate after he left Congress. But he did work closely with her running mate, Tim Walz, on veterans and other issues when Walz was a swing-district Democratic member of Congress from Minnesota.
“I have very high regard for him. He’s a really good person,” Boustany said. “He's somebody that you can sit down with, and you may have differences of opinion, but you can find some common ground.”
Boustany has little hope for his longtime party, though — even if Trump loses.
There’s tremendous pressure in Congress to stick with the home team, he said, recalling veiled threats on occasions when he didn’t.
More than that, he sees the GOP as having steered too far from its core principles, not just on national security and supporting U.S. allies but on issues like free trade.
These are among the reasons he recently changed his voter registration from Republican to independent.
“If you look at the people like Marco Rubio, Josh Hawley and JD Vance, that's where the party's going. That's not the Republican Party I knew. It’s this MAGA kind of approach, and these younger folks are all vying to carry the mantle.”
For Boustany, this election is about standing his ground on a matter of principle.
"And now I'm studying history," he added. "With this, I want to be on the right side of history.”