A Free Now Foundation Exclusive

On February 13, 2025, environmental attorney and child health advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was sworn in as our nation’s 26th Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS)—the federal agency responsible for overseeing public health, medical research, food and drug safety, disease prevention, and social services programs across the United States. It’s been two decades since the issue of mercury remaining in annual flu vaccines–after it was largely phased out of childhood vaccines in 2001– began to consume him, resulting in his controversial article “Deadly Immunity” in Rolling Stone. And it’s been over a decade since Bobby first lobbied U.S. Senators on the same  issue. During that documented meeting on the Hill, Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski famously brushed him off with a curt, “Talk to Bernie Sanders; he cares about brain health.”

Every rejection, every loss, Bobby turned into fuel—honing his arguments and sharpening his approach, iron on iron. On last Thursday morning, he stepped into one of the most powerful roles in the United States, commanding 83,000 employees, a $130 billion budget, and another $1.7 trillion in spending authority for government programs.

Three weeks earlier, on the evening of January 20, 2025, in the lobby of the Waldorf Astoria, as the MAHA Ball swirled around me, I stood in disbelief, surrounded by friends and allies—many of whom I’d never met in person before. It was a reunion for the campaign I’d poured the last two years of my life into. My kids laughed that I couldn’t take ten steps without bumping into someone dear to me and sharing a hug. There were the original Mercury Moms, the team behind Children’s Health Defense, ICAN, the moms of the Thinking Moms Revolution, and the chairman of Free Now Foundation, which I’m writing for today. I stood with Del Bigtree, both of us soaking in the surreal moment. I met Forrest Maready for the first time in my life after sharing an email friendship with him for the past eight years. We all said the same thing: we finally won. Bobby’s confirmation felt imminent—preordained, even. We trusted President Trump would move heaven and earth to make it happen. We believed this was God’s plan unfolding before us.

All I’ve known in my decade of advocacy is pouring my heart into the fight, almost always losing, and learning from each setback. But here we are. We finally won. And now the real work begins. Today, we’re on mile one of a marathon. Every single one of you who donated your hard-earned dollars to the Kennedy campaign, every one of you who spread the word about Bobby on social media—you are the ones who breathed power and life into the possibility of this moment and turned it into reality. Without you, he wouldn’t be here. 

President Trump’s Remarks

When President Trump took the podium to introduce Bobby at his swearing-in ceremony, he spoke of how hard our campaign fought—not just to win, but to unite people across party lines, to reach across divides that seemed impossible to bridge. And as someone who poured my soul into that effort, I can tell you he’s right. It wasn’t about politics for us. We never set out to crush anyone or tear anyone down. We respected those who disagreed, always believing they could come to see what we saw—a vision worth fighting for. Back on that day in August 2024, when Bobby stepped up and endorsed Trump, it was like a dam broke. His supporters, so fiercely loyal after years of standing by him through every battle, followed his lead with a trust that changed the trajectory of our nation. That’s the power Bobby has—to inspire, to call people to something bigger—and Trump saw it too.

President Trump put it best when he said, “Perhaps most importantly, though, Bobby created a nationwide movement made up of millions and millions of mothers and fathers and young people and concerned citizens of every background who want to end this—this horrible, chronic disease crisis that exists in America. He’s absolutely committed to getting dangerous chemicals out of our environment and out of our food supply and getting the American people the facts and the answers that we deserve after years in which our public health system has squandered the trust of our citizens. And they really have. They don’t trust us. They don’t trust anybody, frankly. They’ve gone through hell.” Every word of that resonated in my bones. Then he drove it home: “There’s no better person to lead our campaign of historic reforms and restore faith in American health care, and Bobby is going to do it.” 

Justice Neil Gorsuch

Then the world watched in awe as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stood before Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch to be sworn in as Secretary of HHS. Many noticed this was no ordinary choice, since Supreme Court justices don’t typically swear in cabinet members; that honor usually falls to the Vice President or some other senior official. But Bobby, ever the trailblazer, personally called up Justice Gorsuch for the favor—a man whose rulings have fiercely defended individual liberties, especially against vaccine mandates and pandemic overreach. Gorsuch, with his track record of standing up to government excess in cases like National Federation of Independent Business v. OSHA and Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn v. Cuomo, was the perfect embodiment of the fight Bobby’s been waging for decades.

Bobby has spent years calling out a judiciary he believes too often bends to the will of regulatory agencies and corporate giants, letting them steamroll our rights in the name of health policy. And here was Gorsuch, a justice whose words ring in my ears: “Government actors have shut down schools and businesses, shuttered houses of worship, and even restricted personal movement without adequate legal justification.” By picking Gorsuch to swear him in, Bobby wasn’t just taking an oath—he was planting a flag. His HHS would be about medical freedom, individual rights, and holding the line against overreach. It was a promise to us, his tireless supporters, that he’d fight with everything he’s got to peel back the layers of control that have been suffocating us. 

The Acceptance Speech: A Healthy Person Has 1,000 Dreams

When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stepped up to deliver his acceptance speech as the 26th Secretary of Health and Human Services, the weight of two decades of his relentless fight settled into a moment of pure grace. This wasn’t just a formality—it was Bobby laying bare his soul, sharing the fire that’s driven him through every trial, every sleepless night, every sacrifice. Early in his remarks, he reached back to 1968, recalling how his father, Robert F. Kennedy, quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson in a note to Al Lowenstein—a political ally turned rival supporting Gene McCarthy against him in the primaries—honoring Lowenstein’s resolve even across battle lines. That gesture, rooted in a belief that standing firm on principle could sway the world, echoed through Bobby’s words like a torch passed down, lighting the path he’s walked for us.

He said, “And although Al Lowenstein was on the other side now running against my father with Gene McCarthy, my father wrote him a note—a quote from Emerson—where he said, ‘If a single man plants himself firmly on his own ideal, and there abide, the whole wide world will come around to him.’ For 20 years, I’ve gotten up every morning on my knees and prayed that God would put me in a position where I can end the childhood chronic disease epidemic in this country. On August 23rd of last year, God sent me President Trump, and he’s kept every promise that he’s made to me.”

Then he went on to say something that every American battling a chronic illness in themselves or their child knows to be true. “A healthy person has a thousand dreams. A sick person only has one. Sixty percent of our population has only one dream: that they get better.” 

Make America Healthy Again

Immediately after the swearing in, President Donald Trump signed the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) executive order. This order established the President’s MAHA Commission, chaired by Bobby himself, with a mission to tackle America’s worsening health crisis—starting with the epidemic of childhood chronic diseases that’s been breaking our spirits for far too long. It’s a call to action I’ve dreamed of, demanding transparency in health research, digging into root causes like toxic chemicals and overused medications, and reimagining a system that prevents sickness rather than just managing it—because, as Bobby’s always said, a healthy nation starts with healthy kids. Within 100 days, the commission will deliver an assessment comparing our children’s health to other nations, followed by a strategy in 180 days to turn the tide. This is the moment we’ve been fighting for all along.

This is our victory, born from the grit of a campaign that refused to break and the loyalty of millions who saw in Bobby what he really is—a heart that won’t quit. From the MAHA Ball to Justice Gorsuch raising that Bible, from Trump’s unshakable trust to this speech that laid out his soul, it’s all led us here. We’ve won this first mile, but the marathon stretches out before us, and Bobby’s ready to run it with every ounce of strength he’s got. He will lead HHS with a fire that’s burned for 20 years. We’re not just dreaming of a healthier America anymore—we’re fighting for it, together. There goes our hero.