Who Was the Founding Indispensable Man (or Woman)?
Presidential historian Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky and humanities scholar Clay Jenkinson engage in frequent public discussions of the Founding Fathers and the Early National Period of American history. Chervinsky is the executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. Clay is a Thomas Jefferson scholar (and advocate), one of the principal talking heads in Ken Burns’ 1998 documentary on Jefferson.
On Jenkinson’s weekly “Listening to America” podcast, Chervinsky often enjoys deflating the historical achievement and reputation of Jefferson. The two scholars spar – civilly and playfully – about the American Revolution, the creation of the U.S. Constitution, and the presidencies of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe and John Quincy Adams.
In this program, Jenkinson and Chervinsky take a look at the Founding Fathers and ask, “Who Was the Indispensable Man?” The title comes from historian James Flexner’s 1974 biography, “Washington: The Indispensable Man.”
The audience will have the opportunity to ask questions and – at the end of the evening – cast their vote for the Founders’ Indispensable Man.
Jenkinson is an independent humanities scholar, the author of 13 books, the editor of the Lewis and Clark quarterly We Proceeded On, and the senior editor and humanities scholar for Listening to America. He comes to Vail four times per year to lecture, perform and moderate the Conversations on Controversial Issues programs. He lives and writes in North Dakota.
Chervinsky is the executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. She is the author of two highly regarded books, “The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution,” and “Making the Presidency: John Adams and the Precedents that Forged the Republic.” She lives and writes in Virginia. She is a frequent guest on major national media and also the podcast Listening to America.
Recommended reading available at The Bookworm in Edwards:
“Making the Presidency: John Adams and the Precedents that Forged the Republic” by Lindsay M. Chervinsky
