The Thomas Jefferson Hour

#1315 James Madison (Part One)

President Thomas Jefferson speaks about his good friend and adviser James Madison.

#1314 Our Friend Beau

"Whatever your politics are, to think that the country is being taken seriously by young men and women who want us to be a Jeffersonian republic is just such a gratifying thing to me." — Clay S. Jenkinson We greet a special visitor, our friend Beau Wright. Beau traveled from Lynchburg, Virginia to join us at the studio for a fruitful and interesting conversation about American ideals.

#1312 Elections Matter

The results of the 2018 midterm elections are what we try to sort out this week: what it means, what it implies, and how it fits into Jefferson's view of the United States.

#1311 Jefferson's Views

"This is a French school of economics and social thinking that I subscribed to, at least in part, that says that wealth comes from the soil" — Clay S. Jenkinson portraying Thomas Jefferson President Jefferson answers listener questions about Jefferson as a guide for our troubled times, Jefferson’s views on slavery, and his thoughts on J. Hector St. John de Crèvecœur's Letters from an American Farmer, published in 1782.

#1310 Valley Forge with Bob Drury and Tom Clavin

Valley Forge was the darkest moment of the revolutionary war. Twelve thousand American troops were stationed at a place 23 miles northwest of Philadelphia. If there could be suffering, they felt it at Valley Forge — nearly starving, mutiny, disease, internecine struggles, you name it. Of all of the people who have a role in this great story, Thomas Jefferson is not one of them, and for that reason, all of those present never quite felt that Jefferson was fully one of the band of brothers.

#1309 Water for a Dry Land with Char Miller

Drop Jefferson into western Kansas or Oklahoma. What does he say about the Ogallala miracle? The Ogallala aquifer is a huge underground water resource which stretches from South Dakota all the way to Texas — an underground lake the size of Lake Huron that most people have never heard of.

Book Club: Valley Forge on 10/30

On October 30th, we're going to have Bob Drury and Tom Clavin on the show. They're the authors of a new book, Valley Forge, which will be our next book club selection.

Emancipation

"I realized that this was so deeply rooted in the American social, economic, and political life, that it was going to take an extraordinary movement to rid ourselves of slavery." — Clay S. Jenkinson portraying Thomas Jefferson

#1306 Ossian

We speak with President Thomas Jefferson (as portrayed by humanities scholar Clay S. Jenkinson) about reading - one of his favorite pastimes. We also talk about the teachers who inspired his lifelong habit of reading and Jefferson’s fascination with the Ossian, first published by the Scottish poet James Macpherson in 1760.

#1304 To France

"This period was, in some ways, the most satisfying period of Jefferson's life, and in some ways it was the most radical." — Clay S. Jenkinson This week, as promised, and in anticipation of Clay’s upcoming cultural tour of Jefferson’s France in October 2019, we devote an entire show to discussion of Jefferson’s time as Minister to France from 1784 to 1789.

#1303 Can We Talk?

"He saw a nation that collapsed right in front of him and he thought, 'well, I wonder why nations collapse,' and I think that really led to some great thinking." — Clay S. Jenkinson We respond to listener mail this week, including questions related to the principle of one-person one-vote, and we discuss replies to Clay’s request for some thoughtful conservative perspectives from listeners who support the Trump administration.

#1302 Alarm Poll

"I'm like everyone else, I'm in the middle. I see some benefits on both edges of the spectrum, but I don't want either of them to prevail." — Clay S. Jenkinson Clay asked listeners to rate, on a scale of 1 to 10, how alarmed they are about the current state of political affairs in the United States. Rather than just giving a number, many listeners responded with many thoughtful letters. This week we share and read portions from 17 of those letters.

#1301 Farewell Address

"George Washington ... was as close to a perfect human being as we believed existed on Earth." — Clay S. Jenkinson portraying Thomas Jefferson This week, we speak with President Jefferson about George Washington's farewell address which was first published in Philadelphia's American Daily Advertiser on September 19, 1796, 222 years ago.

#1300 Better Arguments

"Can we talk? Can we try to argue about where we are and where we're going and use the founders as a source of wisdom that might allow us to have a safe place to meet and to talk about this with civility, but with fervor?" — Joseph J. Ellis Clay and David discuss how to conduct better arguments, and also speak with author Joseph Ellis to talk about his new book American Dialogue, which will be released this fall.

#1299 Jefferson's Mistakes

"He was part of the extension of slavery that made the Civil War inevitable, and that led to almost 800,000 deaths." — Clay S. Jenkinson This week President Thomas Jefferson speaks about the political mistakes he made.

#1298 As Requested

"You have to wait 14 years under the naturalization law before you can become a full citizen of the United States. These were palpable violations of the Bill of Rights." — Clay S. Jenkinson portraying Thomas Jefferson We spend this week, as requested, responding to submitted questions and correcting some factual errors pointed out by our listeners.

Defending America in the World Arena

"The duty of the President of the United States is to be the principal articulator of America's values." — Clay S. Jenkinson portraying Thomas Jefferson

Cartography

"I made a special devotion to collecting all of the maps that I could." — Clay S. Jenkinson portraying Thomas Jefferson

Supreme Court Appointments

"It is not a great privilege to name a Supreme Court justice." — Thomas Jefferson, as portrayed by Clay S. Jenkinson

The Declaration of Independence

"I played a small role. I was just the penman of this thing." — Thomas Jefferson, as portrayed by Clay S. Jenkinson

#1292 Common Sense

This week, we present another of our Jefferson Hour Book Club episodes and discuss Thomas Paine’s Common Sense.

#1290 Adjustments

"He's a bit of Tea Party guy, he's a bit of libertarian, he's certainly for small government." — Clay S. Jenkinson This week's episode is devoted to answering listener questions, and many of the questions are about the current administration. We anticipate and appreciate comments on the issues discussed during this episode. Thanks for listening.

#1288 Truth Matters

"I think that an ideal citizen is a bit grumpy, is always concerned that government is up to no good." — Thomas Jefferson, Second Inaugural Address We begin our conversation with President Thomas Jefferson asking about the actual location of his tombstone. We also discuss truthfulness, free speech, personal freedoms, upholding international agreements, and what Thomas Jefferson thinks about executive privilege and our current government.

#1286 First Family (Part Two)

“I’m just thinking of your career, here.” — Joseph Ellis We continue our conversation this week with the award-winning author Joseph Ellis, and we conclude our discussion about his book First Family: Abigail and John Adams as part of our first entry of the Thomas Jefferson Hour Book Club series.

#1284 Foreign Policy

"peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none" — Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address (March 4, 1801) This week on the Jefferson Hour, we talk with President Jefferson about his struggles with foreign entanglements, and his disappointment with the American people's reactions to his decisions.