On June 19, 1775, the Continental Congress commissioned George Washington as commander in chief of the Continental Army. Shortly after he received his commission, Washington left for Massachusetts and assumed command of the Continental Army in Cambridge on July 3, 1775. In honor of that anniversary and of the Fourth of July holiday this weekend, we’re sharing a program on Washington from earlier this year. Acclaimed historians Lindsay Chervinsky and Edward Larson joined National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen to discuss Washington and his role in the Revolutionary War and America’s founding. Chervinsky is the author of The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution and Larson is author of Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership.
FULL PODCAST
Or, listen on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts.
PARTICIPANTS
Lindsay Chervinsky is a White House Historian at the White House Historical Association. She has published articles in the Law and History Review, the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History, Presidential Studies Quarterly, and several edited volumes on the presidency and Early America. Her book, The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution was published by Harvard University Press.
Edward Larson is the Hugh and Hazel Darling Chair in Law and University Professor of History at Pepperdine University. Larson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, and author of the new book Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership. He is also the author of The Return of George Washington: Uniting the States, 1783-1789, A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, and Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America’s Continuing Debate over Science and Religion.
Jeffrey Rosen is the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization devoted to educating the public about the U.S. Constitution. Rosen is also professor of law at The George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
This episode was engineered by Greg Scheckler and produced by Jackie McDermott and Tanaya Tauber.
Stay Connected and Learn More
Questions or comments about the show? Email us at [email protected].
Continue today’s conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr.
Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly.
Please subscribe to Live at the National Constitution Center and our companion podcast We the People on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app.
To watch National Constitution Center Town Halls live, check out our schedule of upcoming programs. Register through Zoom to ask your constitutional questions in the Q&A or watch live on YouTube.
