When the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed in March, killing six workers and shutting down the Port of Baltimore, Maryland Governor Wes Moore marshaled the response to the crisis, speeding up the recovery effort and reopening the port in just 11 weeks. Elected in 2022, Moore says he drew on his experience leading forces as an Army officer in Afghanistan to take care of people, learn what needs to get done, and not get distracted. His mom used to tell him to understand when patience is a virtue and when patience is a detriment. His generation of leaders moves with “a sense of impatience,” he says. “I don’t like wasting time.”
He says he’s applied that urgency to his work in Maryland to reduce child poverty and make communities safer, supporting measures to raise the minimum wage, combat gun violence, boost housing affordability—and a June executive order pardoning tens of thousands of low-level marijuana convictions. Widely seen as a future Democratic presidential candidate, he keeps a clock on his desk that counts down the days until the end of his first term—a reminder of all that he still hopes to accomplish.
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Introducing the 2024 TIME100 Next
- The Reinvention of J.D. Vance
- How to Survive Election Season Without Losing Your Mind
- Welcome to the Golden Age of Scams
- Did the Pandemic Break Our Brains?
- The Many Lives of Jack Antonoff
- 33 True Crime Documentaries That Shaped the Genre
- Why Gut Health Issues Are More Common in Women
Contact us at [email protected]