Historian H. W. Brands, the Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History at the University of Texas at Austin, joins to discuss his new book, American Patriarch: The Life of George Washington. Drawing on diaries, letters, speeches, and broadsides of the day, American Patriarch examines the ambitions and experiences that shaped the first president of the United States and provides a vivid portrait of the iconic leader who steered the American army to victory and launched the nation in its 250-year-old experiment in self-government. Tom Donnelly, lead scholar at the National Constitution Center, moderates.
About NCC Book Clubs: This event is part of the National Constitution Center’s Book Club series, which invites Americans of all ages to engage with works by leading scholars and thinkers exploring the Constitution, American history, and the ideas that shape our constitutional democracy. Through conversations with authors representing a range of perspectives, the series encourages thoughtful discussion grounded in primary sources and constitutional principles. The Center convenes these conversations as a forum for learning and dialogue. The views expressed are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Constitution Center.
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Participants
H. W. Brands holds the Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History at the University of Texas at Austin. He has written more than a dozen biographies and histories, including The General vs. the President, a New York Times bestseller. Two of his biographies, The First American and Traitor to His Class, were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. He publishes “A User’s Guide to History” at hwbrands.substack.com.
Thomas Donnelly is lead scholar at the National Constitution Center and a law professor at the University of Richmond. Prior to joining the Center in 2016, he served as counsel at the Constitutional Accountability Center, as a Climenko Fellow and lecturer on law at Harvard Law School, and as a law clerk for Judge Thomas Ambro on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Additional Resources
- H. W. Brands, American Patriarch: The Life of George Washington
- George Washington's Farewell Address (1796), National Constitution Center
- “Presidents Day at America’s 250th: Reflecting on Washington’s Vision for the Nation,” Julie Silverbrook for Constitution Daily blog, National Constitution Center
- Resolution: George Washington’s Self-Command, National Constitution Center's Civic Virtue Course
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