The Jeffersonians: The Visionary Presidencies of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe

National Archives Museum
Online

Kevin R.C. Gutzman’s The Jeffersonians chronicles the men, known as the Virginia Dynasty, who served as President from 1801 to 1825 and implemented the foreign policy, domestic, and constitutional agenda of the radical wing of the American Revolution, setting guideposts for later American liberals to follow. The three close political allies were tightly related: Jefferson and Madison were the closest of friends, and Monroe was Jefferson’s former law student. Their achievements were many, including the founding of the opposition Republican Party in the 1790s, the Louisiana Purchase, and the call upon Congress in 1806 to use its constitutional power to ban slave imports beginning on January 1, 1808. Joining the author in conversation will be Robert M.S. McDonald, professor of history at the United States Military Academy at West Point.