On April 6, Anthony Romero, the longtime executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, joined a Zoom call with several dozen employees. He was there to eat crow.

The mood on the call was testy. The employees belonged to the ACLUs national political advocacy department, a relatively recent addition to the 102-year-old civil liberties organization. Romero, who has led the ACLU since 2001, had made the department central to his ambitions to transform the ACLU from a legal powerhouse into a full-scale electoral and grassroots movement for civil rights.

But a series of internal shake-ups and disastrous choices by leadership had led to the steady attrition of staff and a feeling of despondency among many who remained. There were people on the call who had been exhorting Romero to take action for months, if not years. Romero had finally fired the head of the department, Ronald Newman, just a few weeks earlier.

On the call, Romero told the employees he cared deeply about them and their work.

How we play a policy and political game has never been more essential for the work and for the future of this organization, he said, in the deliberate, paternalistic cadence that is his signature. Im really grateful and appreciative that youve decided to make the world a better place by deploying your energies, your talents, your dreams, your aspirations here.

I know, being frank, some of you dont trust me, he concluded. Im just asking: Give us a chance, because were trying to do this differently.