“I was, as far as I know, the first president to set that tone: that the president can not be required to testify in civil cases.”
Tune in to your local public radio or join the 1776 Club to hear this episode of What Would Thomas Jefferson Do?
Congressional Powers
Clay Jenkinson welcomes Yale Professor of History Joanne Freeman for a one on one conversation about her book, The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War. In the book, Freeman writes about the physical violence on the floor of the US Congress in the decades before the Civil War. Legislative sessions were often punctuated by mortal threats, canings, flipped desks, and all-out slugfests.
"I take absolutely no joy in any of this. This is a national catastrophe, a tragedy." — Clay S. Jenkinson
On December 4, 2019, four constitutional scholars gathered to testify before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee in public hearings. This week in an out of character program we listen to selected portions of that testimony. Clay Jenkinson responds and provides his unique insight.
"I was, as far as I know, the first president to set that tone: that the president can not be required to testify in civil cases."
— Clay S. Jenkinson portraying Thomas Jefferson
"I don't think, from my point of view, you can think that the Constitution is sacred."
— Clay S. Jenkinson
We discuss Akhil Reed Amar's The Constitution Today, a selection for the Book Club, which contains essays written by Amar over the past two decades. Amar gives us a road map for thinking constitutionally about today’s America.