President Thomas Jefferson is interviewed by the youngest guest host to ever appear on the Jefferson Hour: Grace Beeby, a freshman at Holy Names Academy in Seattle, Washington.
Grace Beeby first discovered her love of history on a middle school field trip to the Oregon Coast. There, as the wind howled around her and the rain poured down, she found herself surprisingly exhilarated to be standing quite literally in the footsteps of the great explorers Lewis and Clark. This moment ignited not only a new-found sense of adventure, but a full-scale obsession with American history. She is a devoted listener of The Jefferson Hour and an avid reader of history books and biographies. For her school's end-of-year talent show, she brought the house down with a rap number from the hit Broadway musical "Hamilton". Along with her continued admiration for Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, she also loves the Founding Fathers, musical theater, social justice, and drawing.
"Our society should be a way of encouraging human possibility and human community."
— Clay S. Jenkinson portraying Thomas Jefferson
Prompted by a letter from a listener, President Thomas Jefferson shares his views on American exceptionalism and his hope that America will stand as a strong and good example for the rest of the world to follow.
"If we failed, it would be such a setback for the human project; if we succeeded, it would certainly become a template for the future."
— Clay S. Jenkinson portraying Thomas Jefferson
"Jefferson comes off as a Machiavellian figure in this book, as not all together reliable and not always truthful in his epic fight against Hamilton."
— Clay S. Jenkinson
This week, we present another installment in the Jefferson Hour Book Club and discuss Alexander Hamilton by author Ron Chernow.
"I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend."
— Thomas Jefferson, 1800
This week, we ask President Jefferson about his famous dinner parties and their extensive menus. It was important to Jefferson to not appear too regal, and the dinner parties were kept somewhat casual. In 1802, a Federalist senator from New Hampshire was meeting Jefferson at a dinner when “a tall high boned man” entered the room wearing “an old brown coat, red waistcoat, old corduroy small clothes, much soiled—woolen hose—& slippers without heels.” He added, “I thought this man was a servant; but was surprised by the announcement it was the President.”