CEI releases trailer for “Dear Mr. President: The Letters of Julia Sand” documentary

Film to be released in April 2025
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) today released a trailer for a new
documentary project "Dear Mr. President: The Letters of Julia Sand" focused on
the effect a single citizen can have on our political system.
Scheduled for release in April 2025, the film focuses on the little-known story of a
woman who took it upon herself to write letters to newly inaugurated President
Chester A. Arthur encouraging him to abandon the political machine that helped
place him in power and end the patronage system of choosing civil servants. Julia
Sand, 31 years old, penned nearly two dozen letters to Arthur, encouraging him to
reform and declaring faith in his leadership.
Sand's letters, now fully transcribed for the first time, are available to read on
CEI.org.
Arthur was Vice President to President James Garfield, who opposed political
machines, but was paired with Arthur for political reasons. Garfield was
assassinated in 1881 by a man who hoped that an Arthur presidency would secure
the patronage system Garfield opposed.
Discover how one citizen motivated the President of the United States to throw
supporters of the spoils system out of his sphere of influence and lead Congress to
pass Civil Service Reform, ultimately bringing an end to the corrupt bureaucratic
system that had made him.
View the trailer and read the letters of Julia Sand on CEI.org.