Wes Moore

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.