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.
"I would never consider [the Constitution] to be a sacred text."
— Thomas Jefferson, as portrayed by Clay S. Jenkinson
We present President Thomas Jefferson with a listener question about what the phrase "promote the general welfare," found in the Constitution, actually means.
"I believe that we have the right to revolution."
— Thomas Jefferson, as portrayed by Clay S. Jenkinson
President Jefferson answers listener questions about his relationship with John Adams, replacing the Constitution once every generation, bees at Monticello, and the Second Amendment.
"There's a perfect alignment between Jefferson's own contradictions and the rest of American history."
— Joseph J. Ellis
Clay speaks with Dr. Joseph J. Ellis, author of more than ten books, including American Sphinx, Passionate Sage, and Revolutionary Summer. His forthcoming book is American Dialogue: The Founders and Us.
"It really upsets me that Jefferson should be anti-canine, but there you are."
— Clay S. Jenkinson
This week, we answer listener questions about Jefferson’s personality traits, Thaddeus Kosciuszko, the State of Jefferson, the Hamilton Soundtrack, fashion during Jefferson’s time, touring Monticello, and Jefferson’s distaste for dogs.