Theodore Johnson

Theodore (Ted) R. Johnson is a senior advisor at New America, leading its Us@250 initiative marking the nation’s semiquincentennial in 2026. He is also a columnist for The Washington Post and a retired Commander in the United States Navy, which included service as a White House Fellow and as speechwriter to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Prior to joining New America, Johnson served as a senior director at the Brennan Center for Justice, where he conducted research on race, democracy, and American identity, and as a national security research manager at Deloitte.

Johnson is the author of If We Are Brave: Essays from Black Americana (Amistad, 2025) and When the Stars Begin to Fall: Overcoming Racism and Renewing the Promise of America (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2021). He holds degrees from Hampton University, Harvard University, and Northeastern University.