1 00:00:04,800 --> 00:00:08,399 Speaker 1: On this episode of newch World. Greatness is not a chance, 2 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:13,520 Speaker 1: It's a choice. George Washington didn't simply wake up as 3 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:16,360 Speaker 1: one of the greatest men in human history. His greatness 4 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:21,360 Speaker 1: was the sum of a lifetime of difficult and consequential choices. 5 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:26,119 Speaker 1: In his new book, Lessons in Liberty Thirty Rules for 6 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:31,520 Speaker 1: Living from Ten Extraordinary Americans, Jeremy Adams discusses the inspiring 7 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:35,680 Speaker 1: lives of extraordinary Americans from our past and what we 8 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:39,600 Speaker 1: can learn from them today. Here are just a few examples. 9 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:44,239 Speaker 1: George Washington's lifelong struggle to conquer his temper makes him 10 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:49,040 Speaker 1: a model for self help and self improvement. Daniel Enoway 11 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:53,400 Speaker 1: was a beloved Japanese American senator who carried out daring 12 00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:58,040 Speaker 1: missions in World War Two despite being subjected to discrimination 13 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:02,360 Speaker 1: by the very nation he decided to defend. Eleven year 14 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:05,720 Speaker 1: old Clara Barton's role in nursing or injured brother back 15 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:09,680 Speaker 1: to health instilled the courage and ferocity that would later 16 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:14,119 Speaker 1: empower her to pioneer new nursing techniques during the Civil War. 17 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 1: Here to talk about his new book, I am really 18 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:23,039 Speaker 1: pleased to welcome my guest, Jeremy Adams. He was the 19 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:28,120 Speaker 1: Daughters of the American Revolution twenty fourteen California Teacher of 20 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:33,280 Speaker 1: the Year, a finalist for the Carlston Family Foundation Outstanding 21 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:36,760 Speaker 1: Teachers of America Award. He is a social studies teacher 22 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:41,040 Speaker 1: at Bakersfield High School and was a longtime political science 23 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:58,440 Speaker 1: lecturer at California State University at Bakersfield. Jeremy, welcome back, 24 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:01,000 Speaker 1: and thank you for joining me a new world. 25 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:03,680 Speaker 2: Mister speaker. I'm absolutely honored to be here. 26 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:09,320 Speaker 1: Thanks. Now, before we dive into the personal wisdom of 27 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:13,080 Speaker 1: some extraordinary Americans, I like to discuss a section of 28 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:17,919 Speaker 1: your introduction that I think is extremely important. You said 29 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:21,960 Speaker 1: to let the common American, not the elite, quote honor 30 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:26,880 Speaker 1: what is honorable, praise what is praiseworthy, and most of all, 31 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 1: emulate which is highest and best, so we can take 32 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:35,560 Speaker 1: advantage of the miracle of human freedom. Well, the people 33 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 1: you're describing are, of course human and therefore flawed. You 34 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:43,080 Speaker 1: continue to emphasize that quote. It is their fallibility that 35 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:46,799 Speaker 1: makes them so wholly worthy of study. This is remarkable 36 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:50,600 Speaker 1: wisdom at a time when we desperately need it. Now, 37 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:54,880 Speaker 1: in twoenty twenty two, you hit your twenty fifth year 38 00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:57,360 Speaker 1: as a classroom teacher, and I have to say, you 39 00:02:57,400 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 1: look like you must have started when you were four. 40 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:03,760 Speaker 1: You look so much younger than a teacher of twenty 41 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 1: five years. But I'm curious. Have you enjoyed the process 42 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:10,600 Speaker 1: of interacting with young people and the process of sharing 43 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 1: history with them. 44 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:15,520 Speaker 2: I do. It's the absolute center of my life. Just 45 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:17,720 Speaker 2: to be clear, I'm a teacher who writes. I'm not 46 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:21,120 Speaker 2: a writer who teaches. And one of the things that's 47 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:23,240 Speaker 2: so amazing about teaching as long as I have and 48 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:25,280 Speaker 2: thank you for the compliment about how young I look, 49 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:27,800 Speaker 2: I'll tell my wife one of the wonderful things about 50 00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:30,040 Speaker 2: that is that when there is a sudden change, when 51 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:32,360 Speaker 2: there's a kind of profound pivot in the way that 52 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:35,040 Speaker 2: young people are behaving, in the way that they're acting, 53 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:37,640 Speaker 2: and in this instance, really what inspired this book, and 54 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:40,040 Speaker 2: the way that they are suddenly looking at their country 55 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:43,320 Speaker 2: and our country's history, you take notice about it. Things 56 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:45,760 Speaker 2: are different today in the last three or four years, 57 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:48,680 Speaker 2: than they were ten or fifteen or twenty years ago. 58 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:52,800 Speaker 2: I graduated from Washington and Lee University in nineteen ninety eight, 59 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 2: and I guarantee that as a twenty year old, I 60 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:58,520 Speaker 2: wouldn't recognize a lot of the views and the beliefs 61 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:01,200 Speaker 2: that my young people have today about America and about 62 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:03,680 Speaker 2: American history. And so for people like you and me, 63 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 2: we come across statistics that literally you have to read 64 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:09,040 Speaker 2: it two or three times to even believe it. When 65 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:12,680 Speaker 2: you see things like forty percent of gen Zers would 66 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:16,360 Speaker 2: characterize the Founding Fathers as villains, when fifty percent of 67 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:19,080 Speaker 2: high school students say that their lives are not very important. 68 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:21,400 Speaker 2: When you see that only fifty two percent of the 69 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:24,520 Speaker 2: country says that they would actually fight to defend the country, 70 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:28,320 Speaker 2: you know that something very recent and very radical has 71 00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:31,000 Speaker 2: gone wrong in our classrooms and in our country. And 72 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:33,680 Speaker 2: that's what inspired me to write the book. I'm an 73 00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:37,800 Speaker 2: unapologetic lover romantic of America, and the fact that it's 74 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:41,400 Speaker 2: getting harder and harder to kind of teach and inculcate 75 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:43,640 Speaker 2: that to my students is really what inspired me to 76 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:44,200 Speaker 2: write about it. 77 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:46,320 Speaker 1: Well, let me just take a second before we talk 78 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:49,479 Speaker 1: about your new book and the insights you gained from 79 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:52,560 Speaker 1: great people. What do you sense when you've been in 80 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:55,839 Speaker 1: the classroom that whole time? What do use sense has happened? 81 00:04:57,200 --> 00:04:59,240 Speaker 2: Don't mean to be arrogant. I know what's happened. My 82 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:03,159 Speaker 2: defining can is that young people are influenced by the 83 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:06,520 Speaker 2: adults around them. We absorb the viewpoints, the values, the 84 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:09,240 Speaker 2: behaviors of those people who we listen to and who 85 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:11,680 Speaker 2: we are surrounded by. And what are the voices that 86 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:14,240 Speaker 2: young people are listening to today, mister speaker. They're listening 87 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:17,040 Speaker 2: to TikTok. They're not talking to their parents. They're not 88 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:20,880 Speaker 2: being taught by sometimes particularly patriotic Americans. They're talking to 89 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:24,520 Speaker 2: fellow students. And so the stories of this country that 90 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:26,520 Speaker 2: you and I were brought up on, the stories that 91 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:28,719 Speaker 2: gave us a sense that we are part of history 92 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:31,279 Speaker 2: and that we have an obligation. Each generation has an 93 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:34,400 Speaker 2: obligation to renew the blessings of this country, that the 94 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:37,440 Speaker 2: proposition that Lincoln talked about, we can't take it for granted, 95 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:40,279 Speaker 2: and that we're only one generation away from losing the 96 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 2: American promise. That value system is just simply not being 97 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:47,520 Speaker 2: taught or cultivated in the souls of our young people. 98 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:50,080 Speaker 2: And that's what's happening. This isn't something that happened twenty 99 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:52,159 Speaker 2: or thirty years ago. This is recent. I mean, I 100 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:54,359 Speaker 2: have so many young people who just don't stand and 101 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:56,480 Speaker 2: say the Pledge of Allegiance, they don't want to sing 102 00:05:56,520 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 2: the national anthem, and when you ask them about it, 103 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:02,800 Speaker 2: they're not quoting Howard's in, they're not quoting Marxism. It's 104 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:04,919 Speaker 2: just almost reflexive just to kind of well, you know, 105 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 2: this country's so flawed, or you know, I don't have 106 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:09,120 Speaker 2: much appreciation for it, and they just don't know anything. 107 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:11,560 Speaker 2: So cynicism is born with ignorance. 108 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:17,880 Speaker 1: So you, in a sense, are trying to light a 109 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:22,720 Speaker 1: candle in the middle of that cultural darkness. And your 110 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:25,760 Speaker 1: book Lessons in Liberty, you did something I think really 111 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:29,320 Speaker 1: interesting and I really approve of. You picked ten extraordinary 112 00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:32,680 Speaker 1: Americans that we can learn from and that we should 113 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:37,719 Speaker 1: pay attention to. Now, you picked George Washington, Daniel Nay, 114 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:43,760 Speaker 1: Clara Barton, Thomas Jefferson, Arthur Ash, Abraham Lincoln, Ben Nighthorse Campbell, 115 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:49,440 Speaker 1: Ruth Bader Ginsburg, James Madison, and Theodore Roosevelt. Why did 116 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:51,159 Speaker 1: you pick that particular group? 117 00:06:52,240 --> 00:06:54,360 Speaker 2: I did that on purpose when I wrote this book, 118 00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 2: and it's a gamble, I'll be honest. I mean, we 119 00:06:56,160 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 2: live in highly partisan, idiological times, but I wanted to 120 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:03,480 Speaker 2: a book that showed that America is bigger than a party. 121 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:05,880 Speaker 2: It is bigger than an ideology. We are more than 122 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:09,240 Speaker 2: Republicans or Democrats. We are more than federalists or democratic Republicans. 123 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:11,720 Speaker 2: And I wanted to pick a broad cross section of 124 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:16,480 Speaker 2: Americans who come from different eras, both genders, black and white, 125 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:20,040 Speaker 2: liberal and conservative. We have very conservative and very liberal 126 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:22,720 Speaker 2: members of that coterie of ten people. That's why I 127 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:24,760 Speaker 2: chose I want this book to appeal to all of us, 128 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:26,760 Speaker 2: because we should all be able to sing the magical 129 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:30,080 Speaker 2: melody of American. We don't. We've been siloed. We are 130 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:32,640 Speaker 2: in these small camps. We don't talk to each other. 131 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:34,400 Speaker 2: And if you don't talk to each other, you're certainly 132 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 2: not going to be inspired by one another. And that's 133 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:38,960 Speaker 2: really the central thesis of the book. If there is 134 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:41,680 Speaker 2: one thing that Americans are missing out on today, it's 135 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:45,720 Speaker 2: the inspiration that comes from studying these amazing men and women. 136 00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:48,640 Speaker 2: I'm not a historian. This book is not three thousand 137 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:50,840 Speaker 2: pages long. It's two hundred pages long. And so I 138 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:54,080 Speaker 2: picked out what is right about these ten figures. Again, 139 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:57,640 Speaker 2: we love to nowadays pick apart historical figures and say, well, 140 00:07:57,720 --> 00:07:59,440 Speaker 2: I'm not going to listen to George Washington or the 141 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:01,800 Speaker 2: Framers because they had slaves, or I'm not gonna listen 142 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:04,320 Speaker 2: to Ruth Bader Ginsberg because she's liberal. And what I 143 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:06,480 Speaker 2: would say is the question is not what they got wrong, 144 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:08,480 Speaker 2: it's what did they get right? And how can we 145 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:10,720 Speaker 2: use that in our own lives to be better Americans 146 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:12,120 Speaker 2: and to find joy and purpose. 147 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:15,320 Speaker 1: Well, I mean, in that context, if I can jump 148 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:19,720 Speaker 1: around from Mint to make your occasion, including everyone, I'm 149 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:23,440 Speaker 1: fascinated that you picked Arthur Ash. Why is Arthur Ash 150 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:24,120 Speaker 1: one of the ten? 151 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:27,080 Speaker 2: Well, if I'm being perfectly honest, first of all, I 152 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:30,720 Speaker 2: am a huge lover of tennis. That's somebody, mister speaker, 153 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:33,840 Speaker 2: that if you're under thirty five, nobody knows Arthur Ash. 154 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:35,800 Speaker 2: Some people you kind of know. If you're eighteen, nobody's 155 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:37,640 Speaker 2: gonna know. Daniel in no way you passed away in 156 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:40,880 Speaker 2: twenty twelve. Been nice horse. Campbell is still with us, 157 00:08:40,920 --> 00:08:42,600 Speaker 2: but he hasn't been in public life since two thousand 158 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:45,040 Speaker 2: and four. That doesn't surprise me. But Arthur, ashe to me, 159 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 2: is one of the titans of the twentieth century, and 160 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:49,680 Speaker 2: I think the real message. We all know that the 161 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:52,000 Speaker 2: largest tennis stadium in the world is named after him. 162 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:54,400 Speaker 2: We think of him as an icon when it comes 163 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:57,599 Speaker 2: to bringing awareness when we're talking about South African apartheid. 164 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:00,679 Speaker 2: But the thing that I love about Arthur Ashe is 165 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:04,360 Speaker 2: that he understood that you can make a difference in 166 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:06,920 Speaker 2: the world in your own way. You don't have to 167 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:09,200 Speaker 2: say and do what everybody else does, you know, And 168 00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:11,720 Speaker 2: he is really beloved today. And I think it's interesting though, 169 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:15,520 Speaker 2: when you go back to the late nineteen sixties, people 170 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:20,200 Speaker 2: like Kareem Abdul Jabbar called him Arthur ass. Jesse Jackson 171 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:22,440 Speaker 2: confronted him and said, you know you're not arrogant enough. Well, 172 00:09:22,440 --> 00:09:25,679 Speaker 2: I don't like your style. And Arthur ash was soft spoken, 173 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:28,719 Speaker 2: he was cerebral, and he did what we should all do, 174 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:30,120 Speaker 2: which is that we don't have to be in the 175 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:32,760 Speaker 2: history books. We don't have to be loud. And this 176 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:35,440 Speaker 2: is kind of where my conservatism comes from, which is 177 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:39,559 Speaker 2: to say that we're usually creatures who find meaning by 178 00:09:39,559 --> 00:09:41,920 Speaker 2: making a difference in our own communities, in our own 179 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:45,199 Speaker 2: institutions and our own schools. And that's what scares me today. 180 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:47,960 Speaker 2: Mister speaker, is that so many people don't join anything. 181 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:50,280 Speaker 2: They don't join political parties, they don't go to church. 182 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:53,840 Speaker 2: They have a very negative view of almost all institutions. 183 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:55,840 Speaker 2: And Arthur, ashe knew better. 184 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:13,559 Speaker 1: You were a little bit of colllectic. Clara Barton is 185 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:15,440 Speaker 1: a huge impact. But why did you pick her? 186 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:18,560 Speaker 2: I thought, Clara Barton was? You know? It's interesting because 187 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:21,040 Speaker 2: I've taught political science for twenty five years, so I 188 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:22,840 Speaker 2: knew the big ones, right. I already knew a lot 189 00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:25,600 Speaker 2: about Washington and Lincoln and Madison and Jefferson. Of course 190 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:27,000 Speaker 2: I learned a lot more, and all kinds of really 191 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:29,280 Speaker 2: interesting things I didn't know before. But I thought what 192 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:31,720 Speaker 2: was so interesting about Clara Barton? Two things? Once, she 193 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:34,160 Speaker 2: is so far ahead of her time, and the second 194 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:36,920 Speaker 2: thing is of anybody in here, mister speaker. She had 195 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:42,240 Speaker 2: this unapologetic American spirit, this idea that things can be 196 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:45,320 Speaker 2: better tomorrow than they are today, and just because something 197 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:46,960 Speaker 2: is the way that it is doesn't mean it always 198 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 2: has to be that way. And I love that notion 199 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:52,280 Speaker 2: that America is a country where we can reach higher, 200 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:55,400 Speaker 2: dream bigger, and achieve things that couldn't happen in other places. 201 00:10:55,640 --> 00:10:58,760 Speaker 2: And she was just gutsy. She was so gutsy, and 202 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:03,120 Speaker 2: she revolution the way that we treated soldiers on the battlefield. 203 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:05,560 Speaker 2: She realized it, instead of having them languish for two 204 00:11:05,679 --> 00:11:08,040 Speaker 2: or three days, that if nurses could go out into 205 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:10,520 Speaker 2: the battlefield and treat them there, you could save these 206 00:11:10,559 --> 00:11:13,280 Speaker 2: men by getting them water and supplies early. And the 207 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:17,480 Speaker 2: fact that she loves education. Remember, Massachusetts was really the 208 00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:19,880 Speaker 2: only state early on that had a right to education. 209 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:22,000 Speaker 2: Other schools had to be paid for in other states. 210 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:24,679 Speaker 2: And she said, no, we should do this everywhere. And 211 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:27,480 Speaker 2: I just love that idea that tomorrow can be better 212 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:30,200 Speaker 2: than today. And I also love because I'm middle aged now. 213 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:33,120 Speaker 2: You know, when you reach middle age, you sometimes get 214 00:11:33,160 --> 00:11:36,280 Speaker 2: comfortable and you don't want to meet new people, and 215 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:38,120 Speaker 2: you don't want to do new things, and you kind 216 00:11:38,160 --> 00:11:40,120 Speaker 2: of just want to do what you've always done. And 217 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:44,440 Speaker 2: here is a woman who was hyperkinetic, always wanted to 218 00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:47,640 Speaker 2: do something more, was easily bored, and always felt that 219 00:11:47,679 --> 00:11:49,600 Speaker 2: her life had a new chapter in it that could 220 00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:52,280 Speaker 2: make her country better. I loved that because I fall 221 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:53,800 Speaker 2: into that trap as well now that I'm in my 222 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:54,400 Speaker 2: mid forties. 223 00:11:55,160 --> 00:12:00,920 Speaker 1: You know, I've always thought that Washington was probably the 224 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:06,800 Speaker 1: one indispensable man, that the degree to which we stand 225 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:13,280 Speaker 1: on his shoulders, and that his character was so extraordinary 226 00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:17,960 Speaker 1: as a base on which literally the country reorganized itself. 227 00:12:18,559 --> 00:12:23,720 Speaker 1: He wasn't essentially a writer, and so I think we 228 00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:27,520 Speaker 1: tend to overvalue Jefferson, who was a great writer, and 229 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:31,679 Speaker 1: undervalue Washington. But at the same time, you make a 230 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:35,720 Speaker 1: point that I think if people visit Mount Vernon, which 231 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:40,120 Speaker 1: I recommend everybody, and they think about this guy physically 232 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:43,880 Speaker 1: large for his day and age, if he had played 233 00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:47,240 Speaker 1: him today, he'd be an NFL offensive tackle. 234 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:49,960 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, you would. 235 00:12:50,200 --> 00:12:54,240 Speaker 1: Wrote a huge horse, was a very good businessman, and 236 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:57,640 Speaker 1: that Mount Vernon they've sort of recreated a lotus worked 237 00:12:57,840 --> 00:13:02,120 Speaker 1: very hard, but just assumed that that was life. I mean, 238 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:05,120 Speaker 1: you work hard because you could work hard. At the 239 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:11,480 Speaker 1: same time, he thought constantly. And I'm curious, what is 240 00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:16,120 Speaker 1: it you wish people, young people in particular, would learn 241 00:13:16,360 --> 00:13:17,480 Speaker 1: from George Washington? 242 00:13:18,160 --> 00:13:20,440 Speaker 2: How long is the podcast if you go on and 243 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:22,800 Speaker 2: on and on. I mean, you know Jefferson, And I'm 244 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:25,240 Speaker 2: not going to wait into those dangerous waters of who's 245 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:28,160 Speaker 2: more essential Washington or Jefferson, because I do love me 246 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:30,520 Speaker 2: some Thomas Jefferson, But I think you're right. He is 247 00:13:30,559 --> 00:13:32,920 Speaker 2: the indispensable man. Somebody else could have written the Declaration 248 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:35,480 Speaker 2: of Independence, somebody else could have been the third President. 249 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:38,840 Speaker 2: But as Jefferson said about Washington himself, people of that 250 00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:42,880 Speaker 2: kind of moral quality come around about once every thousand years. 251 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:45,959 Speaker 2: And what I want young people to understand is that, 252 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:48,520 Speaker 2: mister speaker, you're right. He is the one man that 253 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:51,960 Speaker 2: if there was not a George Washington, I fervently, passionately 254 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:55,080 Speaker 2: believe there is no United States of America. We perhaps 255 00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:57,959 Speaker 2: do not win the Revolutionary War. There is perhaps no 256 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:02,600 Speaker 2: constitutional convention because nobody has the moral gravitoss to stand 257 00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:04,920 Speaker 2: in and unite the North in the South and to 258 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:07,720 Speaker 2: make it so that everybody believed that the right interests 259 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:11,280 Speaker 2: were at stake in revising the Articles of Confederation. Who 260 00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:14,559 Speaker 2: knows what this weird new office called the President of 261 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:17,600 Speaker 2: the United States actually looks like if somebody doesn't step 262 00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:21,240 Speaker 2: in and take over the reins and model it for posterity. 263 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:23,440 Speaker 2: But the thing I would say the most, mister speaker, 264 00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:26,160 Speaker 2: and I feel very passionately about this, is that what 265 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:30,840 Speaker 2: Washington did was he showed that leadership in a republic 266 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:35,000 Speaker 2: the first liberal democratic republic in human history, looks fundamentally 267 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:37,640 Speaker 2: different than it does in a monarchical society, because what 268 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:41,440 Speaker 2: he understood is that ideals are bigger than ambitions. And 269 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:43,360 Speaker 2: so he did something, and he kept doing it over 270 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:46,320 Speaker 2: and over. He's at the meridian of his power, at 271 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 2: the peak of his power. After he wins the Revolutionary War, 272 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:53,280 Speaker 2: he does something incredible. He gives up the power. He 273 00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:57,200 Speaker 2: literally vanquishes the sword and retires Bauck to Mount Vernon, 274 00:14:57,240 --> 00:15:00,000 Speaker 2: which is why he's called the American cincenatus. And again, 275 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:02,200 Speaker 2: what I want my students to understand is that just 276 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:05,320 Speaker 2: wasn't done in history. Alexander the Great would have done that. 277 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:08,960 Speaker 2: Cromwell wouldn't have done that. Julius Caesar Shures had didn't 278 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:12,800 Speaker 2: do that. Okay, Napoleon didn't do that. You always took 279 00:15:13,200 --> 00:15:15,800 Speaker 2: military success and you turned it into political power. And 280 00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:17,800 Speaker 2: what did he do. He did the opposite. He said, 281 00:15:17,800 --> 00:15:21,040 Speaker 2: the country needs to be bigger than the ambition of 282 00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:23,680 Speaker 2: the man. And so it's interesting because you know, King 283 00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:26,560 Speaker 2: George the Third, when he heard that Washington was going 284 00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:29,280 Speaker 2: to you know, surrender his position, did not believe it. 285 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:31,600 Speaker 2: And he said, but if he does give up his power, 286 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:34,080 Speaker 2: then he is the greatest man in all the world. 287 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:36,280 Speaker 2: And he did give up the power, and he was 288 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:38,080 Speaker 2: the greatest man in all the world. And let's not 289 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:40,600 Speaker 2: forget he did it again at the end of his 290 00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:41,640 Speaker 2: second term of office. 291 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:45,640 Speaker 1: If you go to Annapolis, they actually have a room 292 00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:49,640 Speaker 1: recreated where there are statues where the members of the 293 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:55,440 Speaker 1: Continental Congress are actually sitting as Washington comes in to 294 00:15:55,520 --> 00:15:59,000 Speaker 1: give them his sword. And there's a statue of Washington 295 00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:04,560 Speaker 1: and he is standing while they are sitting because he 296 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:10,920 Speaker 1: is reporting to them and they are in charge. Everybody 297 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:17,080 Speaker 1: understood the statement he was making. It's really a remarkable moment. 298 00:16:17,600 --> 00:16:19,200 Speaker 2: First of all, now I have to go to Annapolis. 299 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:20,840 Speaker 2: I've never been there. I'd left to go to it. 300 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:23,320 Speaker 2: Now it's now on my bucket list. That's one of 301 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:25,200 Speaker 2: the lessons that I put in the book is that 302 00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:27,920 Speaker 2: you know, for better or worse, appearances do matter. And 303 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:31,760 Speaker 2: he was tall, he was strong, He had this kind 304 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:34,560 Speaker 2: of elegance that you know, I think we all aspire to, 305 00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:37,560 Speaker 2: but he came by it very very naturally. But what 306 00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:39,360 Speaker 2: I really love about it, and you just kind of 307 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:41,760 Speaker 2: alluded to it, and I think this is another lesson 308 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:44,520 Speaker 2: that all Americans need to understand is that the root 309 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:47,840 Speaker 2: of power in government. We don't get our rights from government. 310 00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:51,360 Speaker 2: Government doesn't give us our rights. Nature gives us our rights, 311 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:54,960 Speaker 2: and we let our leaders borrow that power every now 312 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:57,760 Speaker 2: and then because our leaders are there to serve us, 313 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:01,280 Speaker 2: not the other way around. We are citizens, not subjects. 314 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:03,240 Speaker 2: I don't know if you watch Game of Thrones, but 315 00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:05,680 Speaker 2: in the show Game of Thrones, they're constantly saying, bend 316 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:08,400 Speaker 2: the knee, bend the knee. And what Washington was showing 317 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:10,200 Speaker 2: there was by God. In America, we don't bin the 318 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:13,159 Speaker 2: knee right because we're each citizens who are equal in 319 00:17:13,200 --> 00:17:16,520 Speaker 2: are claim to individual rights and freedom. Even if you 320 00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:19,320 Speaker 2: are rich, doesn't matter if you're in power. Were all 321 00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:19,879 Speaker 2: the same. 322 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:25,719 Speaker 1: You had mentioned how much Washington admired Cato, who is 323 00:17:25,760 --> 00:17:29,920 Speaker 1: the last senator to stand firm against Caesar, and who 324 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:35,600 Speaker 1: prefers death to bending his knee to Caesar, and Cato 325 00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:40,480 Speaker 1: became a play Cato, a tragedy by Joseph Addison. The Whigs, 326 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:43,960 Speaker 1: who were the critics of the British king, couldn't openly 327 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:48,040 Speaker 1: criticize him because that would be treason, but they could 328 00:17:48,119 --> 00:17:51,840 Speaker 1: write plays about the Roman era, which everybody understood was 329 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:54,720 Speaker 1: a reference to what they would have said about King George, 330 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:59,000 Speaker 1: except that it would be treason. Well, Washington loved that 331 00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:02,920 Speaker 1: play so much that when they had the long difficult 332 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:09,280 Speaker 1: winter at Valley Forge, he regularly had the play performed 333 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:14,439 Speaker 1: because he was trying to inculcate in his officers and 334 00:18:14,520 --> 00:18:19,840 Speaker 1: men this war is about freedom, it's about liberty, it's 335 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:23,840 Speaker 1: about defeating tyranny. And in that sense, I think Washington 336 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:28,360 Speaker 1: is the center of who we became. But the other 337 00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:31,440 Speaker 1: person who you also pick in here to learn from 338 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:35,440 Speaker 1: is the man who enabled us to survive the greatest 339 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:39,359 Speaker 1: threat to that system, and that's Abraham Lincoln. How do 340 00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:41,880 Speaker 1: you think about and how do you approach Lincoln? 341 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:45,560 Speaker 2: I think, first of all, for me, I wasn't trying 342 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:48,240 Speaker 2: to say anything new about Abraham Lincoln. I mean, there 343 00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:51,520 Speaker 2: are so many incredible historians out there who literally spend 344 00:18:51,520 --> 00:18:55,320 Speaker 2: their entire lives going into the minutia of Abraham Lincoln 345 00:18:55,480 --> 00:18:58,080 Speaker 2: that my goal as a writer and as a teacher 346 00:18:58,480 --> 00:19:00,239 Speaker 2: was to look at it from a different lens. And 347 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:02,119 Speaker 2: I think that when you approach these great men like 348 00:19:02,119 --> 00:19:04,919 Speaker 2: a Lincoln or a Washington or Madison, you have to 349 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:06,879 Speaker 2: do it with a very specific aim in mind, and 350 00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:09,359 Speaker 2: my goal in this book was kind of this lens 351 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:13,040 Speaker 2: of self help. What lessons does Abraham Lincoln have that 352 00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:16,560 Speaker 2: he can essentially bequeath to us as Americans today. I mean, 353 00:19:16,600 --> 00:19:19,240 Speaker 2: you referenced this a minute ago with Washington. I think 354 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:22,040 Speaker 2: that's so wise, which is that you know, he looked 355 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:25,800 Speaker 2: back in time and he understood that, you know, the 356 00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:28,479 Speaker 2: models from the past can inspire us today. And you know, 357 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:31,199 Speaker 2: you mentioned Livy, who is one of these great Roman historians. 358 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:33,200 Speaker 2: It's kind of a tragedy by the way that only 359 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:36,480 Speaker 2: a fourth of his works actually survive. But I think 360 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:40,199 Speaker 2: what's interesting is these men, especially the founding fathers, you know, 361 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:43,960 Speaker 2: they were endlessly inspired by what came before them. You 362 00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:47,440 Speaker 2: read the letters of Madison and Jefferson and Hamilton and Washington, 363 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:51,320 Speaker 2: and they're constantly talking about Caesar, They're talking about Cato, 364 00:19:51,359 --> 00:19:54,040 Speaker 2: they're talking about Cicero, They're talking about all of these men. 365 00:19:54,520 --> 00:19:57,120 Speaker 2: And so I think it's important to note that when 366 00:19:57,119 --> 00:20:00,720 Speaker 2: we're talking about Lincoln, you know, Lincoln is somebody who 367 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:04,480 Speaker 2: can inspire all of us, because here's a guy who 368 00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:07,800 Speaker 2: is the quintessential rags to not riches per se, but 369 00:20:07,840 --> 00:20:10,400 Speaker 2: to the peak of power. So many of my students 370 00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:13,280 Speaker 2: come from the bottom side of luck, mister speaker, and 371 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:15,240 Speaker 2: I think it's important for them to see that. Look, 372 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:18,040 Speaker 2: some of these legends are true, and young people aren't 373 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:20,080 Speaker 2: warning these legends, you know. I mean, he really did 374 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:23,639 Speaker 2: grow up in a log cabin in Kentucky. He really 375 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:26,320 Speaker 2: was abandoned by his father for long stretches of time. 376 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:29,480 Speaker 2: When he took the second oath of office, the clouds 377 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:32,560 Speaker 2: really did clear, the sun really did shone on him 378 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:35,360 Speaker 2: like a spot like and when he died, they really 379 00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:37,840 Speaker 2: did say, now he belongs to the ages. I mean, 380 00:20:38,119 --> 00:20:42,040 Speaker 2: these aren't fictional tales. These are inspiring stories that are 381 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:57,560 Speaker 2: useful in our lives today. 382 00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:02,639 Speaker 1: I had this experience. I was as a member of 383 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:06,560 Speaker 1: Congress sitting on the Capitol steps when Ronald Reagan was 384 00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:11,600 Speaker 1: sworn in in nineteen eighty and when Jimmy Carter got 385 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:15,360 Speaker 1: up to say his farewell comments, the sky was clouded 386 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:19,000 Speaker 1: over and literally, as Reagan got up to take the 387 00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:23,400 Speaker 1: oath of office, the clouds parted, the sun came out, 388 00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:27,080 Speaker 1: everything was blue. I mean, it was crazy. These things 389 00:21:27,119 --> 00:21:29,119 Speaker 1: do happen in the real world. The other person I 390 00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:32,000 Speaker 1: think is really intriguing that you talk about is Ruth 391 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:35,840 Speaker 1: Bader Ginsburg, who had a very long life. You talked 392 00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:39,840 Speaker 1: earlier about staying active. I mean, she was remarkably active 393 00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:42,359 Speaker 1: for a very long time. Why did you pick her? 394 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:46,600 Speaker 2: I picked her because I admire her. I'm personally conservative, 395 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:49,040 Speaker 2: But there's so much about her life. I mean, I 396 00:21:49,040 --> 00:21:52,720 Speaker 2: think obviously her legal opinions are liberal. I certainly pie 397 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:54,880 Speaker 2: don't agree with her interpretation of the fourteenth of Thement 398 00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:57,840 Speaker 2: equal protection clause. But I think she really demonstrated a 399 00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:01,200 Speaker 2: life of conservative values. I think she understood the things 400 00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:04,000 Speaker 2: that tend to lead to human fulfillment. People forget that 401 00:22:04,119 --> 00:22:07,240 Speaker 2: Ruth Bader Ginsberg didn't like Roe V Wade, that she 402 00:22:07,359 --> 00:22:10,760 Speaker 2: was not on Bill Clinton's original list because of all people, 403 00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:15,240 Speaker 2: women's groups opposed her. Now she's such an icon, you know, 404 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:17,720 Speaker 2: you're talking about her workout routine. They were featuring that 405 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:20,680 Speaker 2: on late night television. She's such a celebrity, and yet 406 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:24,080 Speaker 2: people forget that she actually wasn't seen like that when 407 00:22:24,119 --> 00:22:27,000 Speaker 2: she was nominated. But I mean, she was a heroic mother, 408 00:22:27,359 --> 00:22:31,360 Speaker 2: a wonderful wife, Her husband Marty got testicular cancer when 409 00:22:31,359 --> 00:22:34,000 Speaker 2: he was at Harvard, and what did she do? She 410 00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:36,800 Speaker 2: took over his classes, helped him write his papers, helped 411 00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:39,800 Speaker 2: to raise their daughter. Jane talk about having a kind 412 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:43,440 Speaker 2: of connective tissue to family. She understood that. But I think, 413 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:45,640 Speaker 2: if I'm being honest, the thing I loved most about 414 00:22:45,640 --> 00:22:48,040 Speaker 2: her is that I think, like a lot of Americans, 415 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:51,640 Speaker 2: I love her relationship and her friendship with Antonin Scalia. 416 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:56,520 Speaker 2: I think that it demonstrates that we can have genuine 417 00:22:56,600 --> 00:22:59,639 Speaker 2: love and affection for fellow Americans with whom we have 418 00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:03,959 Speaker 2: strong political disagreements. Jefferson famously said, every difference of opinion 419 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:07,159 Speaker 2: is not a difference of principle. Barack Obama said, we 420 00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:09,960 Speaker 2: can disagree without being disagreeable. And I think if you're 421 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:12,800 Speaker 2: looking for a way to model how we talk to 422 00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:16,199 Speaker 2: fellow Americans, they did it quite well. It does scare me, 423 00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:18,440 Speaker 2: mister Speaker, that I know so many people nowadays who 424 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:21,719 Speaker 2: simply aren't friends with anybody who disagrees with them politically. 425 00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:24,399 Speaker 2: You talked about Ronald Reagan. I was touched by the 426 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:27,080 Speaker 2: story of Speaker Tip O'Neil going to the foot of 427 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:29,240 Speaker 2: his bed on the night that he was almost killed 428 00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:31,520 Speaker 2: and praying to God to save his life. You know, 429 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:34,200 Speaker 2: I'm touched by the fact that Daniel Noway's best friend 430 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:38,080 Speaker 2: in the Senate was Ted Stevens from Alaska. I'm touched 431 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:40,280 Speaker 2: by the friendship between George H. W. Bush and Bill 432 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:43,320 Speaker 2: Clinton as they move beyond politics. I think these are 433 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:45,639 Speaker 2: stories that can inspire us to talk to one another 434 00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:47,760 Speaker 2: in a more meaningful way. I mean, I don't know 435 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:49,520 Speaker 2: about you. I have a lot of different opinions at 436 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:51,840 Speaker 2: forty seven than I had twenty years ago, and that's 437 00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:53,479 Speaker 2: because I have a lot of friends who think differently 438 00:23:53,520 --> 00:23:54,879 Speaker 2: than I do. It makes me a better person. 439 00:23:55,640 --> 00:24:02,760 Speaker 1: This is a remarkable book. You emphasize the insights that 440 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:09,879 Speaker 1: are emotional and involve principle more than facts that you 441 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:14,800 Speaker 1: are trying to wrestle with how to use history to 442 00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:19,239 Speaker 1: actually pass on timeless values rather than how to get 443 00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:23,200 Speaker 1: us back into history, which is a great, great talent 444 00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:25,919 Speaker 1: that you have. How did you learn to do that? 445 00:24:27,359 --> 00:24:29,359 Speaker 2: I hope it succeeded, and thank you for those kind 446 00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:31,640 Speaker 2: of words. I really appreciate it. I will be perfectly 447 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:34,719 Speaker 2: honest with you like you. I love these thick, eight 448 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:37,560 Speaker 2: or nine hundred page tomes that you sometimes read about 449 00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:40,320 Speaker 2: these American figures in the past, and this book is 450 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:41,639 Speaker 2: not that at all. By the way, my book is 451 00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:44,800 Speaker 2: two hundred pages. Sometimes when I would be reading these 452 00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:47,600 Speaker 2: things or learning about these things in college or again, 453 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:49,199 Speaker 2: I'm not a public official like you, or you're a 454 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:51,200 Speaker 2: historic figure. I'm not even like that. I'm just teaching 455 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:53,840 Speaker 2: this stuff. But when you walk into some of these places, 456 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:57,160 Speaker 2: there's a sensation that resonates within your soul. There is 457 00:24:57,280 --> 00:25:00,960 Speaker 2: a kind of power that you feel in the American 458 00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:03,359 Speaker 2: story that I don't want to get emotional here on 459 00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:06,200 Speaker 2: your podcast, but to be able to be a citizen 460 00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:10,440 Speaker 2: of this country, I want people to understand how profoundly 461 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:13,680 Speaker 2: lucky we are to exist in this time of human history. No, 462 00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:16,600 Speaker 2: liberty is not the rule. Oppression is the rule. The 463 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:20,760 Speaker 2: Constitution is not the rule. It's monarchy. It's not private property, 464 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:23,800 Speaker 2: it's not opportunity, it's not pluralism. These are not the 465 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:26,560 Speaker 2: rules of history. They are the exceptions. And yet we 466 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:29,040 Speaker 2: get the bounty of freedom. We get to enjoy these 467 00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:32,240 Speaker 2: opportunities because of the sacrifices and the wisdom of these 468 00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:35,359 Speaker 2: amazing men and women who came before us. And it 469 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:39,479 Speaker 2: didn't happen on accident. I am absolutely sick and tired 470 00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:43,439 Speaker 2: of cynics and naysayers who believe that the essence of 471 00:25:43,480 --> 00:25:46,919 Speaker 2: America is rooted in the worst things that we've ever done, 472 00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:50,160 Speaker 2: that because of something we've done in the past, that 473 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:54,800 Speaker 2: that forever invites the American character today. I absolutely reject that, 474 00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:58,119 Speaker 2: and I believe that. Again, we talk about looking backwards. 475 00:25:58,359 --> 00:26:01,000 Speaker 2: I talk a lot about Plutarch. We've talked about Livy. 476 00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:04,840 Speaker 2: Plutarch was I think the most important historian for the founders, 477 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:07,800 Speaker 2: because they use Plutarch to look back and say, look 478 00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:10,280 Speaker 2: at this Greek, look at this Roman, look at Cicero 479 00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:14,760 Speaker 2: and Cato and Cincinnatus and Alexander the Great and Pericles. 480 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:18,240 Speaker 2: I want to be like them. I want their ideals 481 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:21,240 Speaker 2: and what they achieved to affect my life today. Well, 482 00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:24,639 Speaker 2: I can't imagine a life, mister Speaker, without books and 483 00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:27,879 Speaker 2: movies and history, these things that kind of give me 484 00:26:27,920 --> 00:26:30,919 Speaker 2: a sense of enchantment and grandeur and inspire me to 485 00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:33,720 Speaker 2: write this book. And so many people today they don't 486 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:36,120 Speaker 2: know anything about these amazing men and women. They don't 487 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:39,080 Speaker 2: know anything. All they know is what's bad. And again 488 00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:42,000 Speaker 2: that's fine. We should know what's bad. But my book 489 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:44,719 Speaker 2: is about what they got right in the human condition 490 00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:48,199 Speaker 2: and how those lessons can affect us. To be perfectly honest, 491 00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:50,600 Speaker 2: it's not a history book. Really, it's a practical book. 492 00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:53,119 Speaker 2: It's an actionable book, right. I mean, it's like I 493 00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:55,000 Speaker 2: look at these ten men and women, and they're like 494 00:26:55,119 --> 00:26:58,200 Speaker 2: buried treasure. They're in our backyard. They're about a foot deep. 495 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:00,560 Speaker 2: We just got to get little shovel and earth them 496 00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:04,080 Speaker 2: and really enrich ourselves by their wisdom and their inspiration. 497 00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:05,240 Speaker 2: So that's why I did. 498 00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:09,719 Speaker 1: It well to remarkable achievement. You must be an amazing teacher, 499 00:27:10,359 --> 00:27:14,320 Speaker 1: because you have passion, you have knowledge, You clearly care, 500 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:17,400 Speaker 1: You care about your students, you care about your country, 501 00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:21,520 Speaker 1: and I think what you've done is a significant contribution. 502 00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:24,640 Speaker 1: It's been great to have you back again. I want 503 00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:28,120 Speaker 1: to thank you for joining me. Your new book, Lessons 504 00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:32,280 Speaker 1: in Liberty thirty Rules for Living from ten Extraordinary Americans, 505 00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:36,399 Speaker 1: is available now in Amazon and in bookstores everywhere. I 506 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:39,600 Speaker 1: think it's an incredibly important book and we can all 507 00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:43,040 Speaker 1: learn a lot of inspiring lessons from the people you 508 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:46,080 Speaker 1: have profiled. So thank you very much for joining me. 509 00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:48,760 Speaker 2: Thank you, mister Speaker, was a great honor. Thank you again. 510 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:54,680 Speaker 1: Thank you to my guest Jeremy Adams. You can get 511 00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:57,600 Speaker 1: a link to buy his new book, Lessons in Liberty 512 00:27:57,960 --> 00:28:01,400 Speaker 1: thirty Rules for Living from ten extra Ordinary Americans on 513 00:28:01,440 --> 00:28:05,000 Speaker 1: our show page at neutworld dot com. News World is 514 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:09,440 Speaker 1: produced by gingwid three sixty and iHeartMedia. Our executive producer 515 00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:14,080 Speaker 1: is Guernsey Sloan. Our researcher is Rachel Peterson. Shane O'Grady 516 00:28:14,359 --> 00:28:18,080 Speaker 1: helped produce this episode. The artwork for the show, which 517 00:28:18,119 --> 00:28:21,240 Speaker 1: created by Steve Penley. Special thanks to the team at 518 00:28:21,240 --> 00:28:24,479 Speaker 1: Gingwish three sixty. If you've been enjoying news World, I 519 00:28:24,600 --> 00:28:27,640 Speaker 1: hope you'll go to Apple Podcast and both rate us 520 00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:30,840 Speaker 1: with five stars and give us a review so others 521 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:34,040 Speaker 1: can learn what it's all about. Right now, listeners of 522 00:28:34,119 --> 00:28:37,320 Speaker 1: neut World can sign up for my three free weekly 523 00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:42,880 Speaker 1: columns at gingrichree sixty dot com slash newsletter. I'm newt Gingrich. 524 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:44,240 Speaker 1: This is news World