Jon Meacham Interview: The Power of History in Shaping the Present
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Published 2021-01-04
Jon Meacham is a renowned presidential historian, contributing writer for The New York Times Book Review, contributing editor at TIME, and a Pulitzer Prize-winning author. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations and of the Society of American Historians, Meacham is a distinguished visiting professor at Vanderbilt University. He has written for The New York Times op-ed page, The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, and Garden & Gun. Meacham is also a regular guest on “Morning Joe” and other broadcasts. Born in Chattanooga in 1969, Meacham graduated from The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, with a degree in English literature. He previously worked as a reporter for the Chattanooga Times, an editor-in-chief at Newsweek, and an executive editor at Random House. A trustee of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, The McCallie School, and The Harpeth Hall School, Meacham chairs the National Advisory Council of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University.
From the HBO / Kunhardt Film Foundation (KFF) Documentary “The Soul of America.” Based on Jon Meacham's bestseller that illuminates our present-day fraught political reality by exploring historical challenges including the women's suffrage movement, the incarceration of Japanese Americans, McCarthyism, and the fight for Civil Rights.
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Jon Meacham, Presidential Biographer and Historian
Interview Date: March 25, 2019
Interviewed by: Katie Davison
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All Comments (21)
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BTW, our education system has become increasingly lacking for decades, therefore we need people like Jon to teach.
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The deep and thoughtful insight of some of our current historians is so valuable. More people need to shut up, take a deep breath, and listen. We can be better and we must always strive to be.
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What a relief from the current plethora of hysterics and screamers. I love how calm and concise he is in his describing, explaining, and gentle teaching.
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Rational reason and intellect is not extinct - yet. Bless you, Jon Meacham 😃
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Great interview with one of America's great historians. Calm, rational and extremely knowledgeable.
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Excellent interview with one of Americas foremost and articulate historians.
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I know this is 2 years old but it's timeless. What a great way to wake up. Thanks John.
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Love John Meacham. 🙏🏾
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Jon Meacham's thought leadership is always a pleasure. That this interview was recorded in March 2019 without the experience, perspective and reflection of all that we have endured and learned as of January 2023, makes the second and third installments all the more compelling. Looking forward to his evolving analysis and observations.
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Jon Meacham A National Treasure
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Sheer profundity here, well-spoken in the grand legacy of common sense, pursuit of happiness and striving toward universal justice.
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Many of the ideals in the New Testament "amounts to socialism" and in fact lifesaving programs like Social Security and food stamps come out of the belief in God and in a view of Christian values, that not like Strom Thurmond, does not discriminate against or for poor people based on race. Henry Wallace invented the food stamp program, also developing a hybrid of corn that is used worldwide to feed millions. Thank you for this, KFF and Jon Meacham, treasures of the US.
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Historian. Philosopher. Educator. Optimist. Inspiring. Add to all that, a voice I could listen to all day long-- thanks Jon Meacham. You've got an admirer from the Great White North.
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We need more like him
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Thank you for making this content available on YouTube
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Meacham's comment on nostalgia being a powerful force, and that things were better in past times, brings to mind another thought... Memory Lane is not a well-lit road....
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I want Jon Meacham to be president! He would bring so much to the country. He is brilliant and compassionate.
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Excellent discussion 🕊🇺🇸
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Thank you for FINALLY MAKING AMERICANS KNOW a when they finally got into the 2WW. I’m so sick of there chest pounding.
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John does a great job as always in storytelling. At @33.03 he talks beautifully of the founders understanding of the Presidency but of course he realizes that in the 1790's none of the founders could predict what the role of the U.S in world affairs would become.
