Jon Meacham

The bringing-about of order is the first and fundamental task of government. We accept limits on our rights for the sake of…

— Jon Meacham

“Politics was at once clinical and human, driven by principles and passions that he (the leader) had to master and harness for…

— Jon Meacham

Our greatest leaders are neither dreamers nor dictators: They are, like Jefferson, those who articulate national aspirations yet master the mechanics of…

— Jon Meacham

Incumbent White House parties have won 10 of the last 18 presidential elections; the odds are tight, but they favor Obama in…

— Jon Meacham

It would be wonderful if the public sector were always great, or always terrible; or if the private sector were always great,…

— Jon Meacham

“America has always been torn between the ideal and the real, between noble goals and inevitable compromises. So was Jefferson. In his…

— Jon Meacham

America has long raised political and cultural cognitive dissonance to an art form. We are capable of living with enormous inequality and…

— Jon Meacham

The power of the American system of republicanism lies in its capacity to allow religious belief to be a competing, not a…

— Jon Meacham

Justified or not, the Supreme Court has a kind of sacred status in American life. For whatever reason, Presidents can safely run…

— Jon Meacham

I am an Episcopalian who takes the faith of my fathers seriously, and I would, I think, be disheartened if my own…

— Jon Meacham

I've been accused of being old before my time more than once. It's true that I've always felt an affinity for, and…

— Jon Meacham

I believe history will come to view 9/11 as an event on par with November 22, 1963, the date on which John…

— Jon Meacham

“Jefferson was relentless in pursuing and putting down threats to his vision of a republican nation. Whether they were Federalist judges and…

— Jon Meacham

“There was, of course, a more immediate point to frequent gatherings of lawmakers, diplomats, and cabinet officers at the president’s table. It…

— Jon Meacham

If a person is homosexual by nature - that is, if one's sexuality is as intrinsic a part of one's identity as…

— Jon Meacham

“They all live in cities, together, and can act in a body readily and at all times; they give chief employment to…

— Jon Meacham

We chose the most interesting image available to us to illustrate the theme of the cover, which is what we always try…

— Jon Meacham

Like the Bible-a document that often contradicts itself and from which one can construct sharply different arguments-theology is the product of human…

— Jon Meacham

I am a huge admirer of Franklin Roosevelt's, and I believe social security has done untold good in alleviating the once-widespread issue…

— Jon Meacham

“The political nature of man made it highly unlikely that a society designed to meet regularly would remain peaceable. "The way to…

— Jon Meacham

Whoever rises to deliver the inaugural Address of 2013 will speak to a nation in which the American Dream is under profound…

— Jon Meacham

“The service--a moved Roosevelt called it the "keynote" of his meeting with Churchill--was working a kind of magic, which is one of…

— Jon Meacham

“Politicians often talk too much and listen too little, which can be self-defeating, for in many instances the surer route to winning…

— Jon Meacham

The more we can do to support and promulgate the intellectual traditions of the Abrahamic faiths - of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam…

— Jon Meacham

“With a writer's eye, Irving detected Jackson's depths. "As his admirers say, he is truly an old Roman-to which I would add,…

— Jon Meacham

The decline and fall of the modern religious right's notion of a Christian America creates a calmer political environment and, for many…

— Jon Meacham

The traditional religious right's failure to restore public-school prayer or pass an antiabortion constitutional amendment has likely helped fuel the spread of…

— Jon Meacham

The past always seems somehow more golden, more serious, than the present. We tend to forget the partisanship of yesteryear, preferring to…

— Jon Meacham

Given that sexual orientation is innate and that we are all, in theological terms, children of God, to deny access to some…

— Jon Meacham

A globalized world is by now a familiar fact of life. Building walls or moats may sound appealing, but the future belongs…

— Jon Meacham

Extremists often derive their inspiration from literal interpretations of texts that should rightly be read not as Associated Press reports from the…

— Jon Meacham

Cynically but accurately put, Americans oppose public intervention or regulation if it helps others, but favor it if it helps them -…

— Jon Meacham

The lesson of the Clinton years and of Obama's win of both the nomination and the general election in 2008 is that…

— Jon Meacham

An unexamined faith is not worth having, for fundamentalism and uncritical certitude entail the rejection of one of the great human gifts:…

— Jon Meacham

“Broadly put, philosophers think: politicians maneuver. Jefferson's genius was that he was both and could do both, often simultaneously. Such is the…

— Jon Meacham

We often talk too much & listen too little. The surer route to winning a friend isn't to convince them that you're…

— Jon Meacham

The Occupy Wall Street protests at last suggest that America's wealth gap is once again becoming an organizing political principle in the…

— Jon Meacham

“Jefferson was among the greatest men who had ever lived, a Renaissance figure who was formidable without seeming overbearing, sparkling without being…

— Jon Meacham

The central tenet of Christianity as it has come down to us is that we are to reach out when our instinct…

— Jon Meacham

The American Dream may be slipping away. We have overcome such challenges before. To recover the Dream requires knowing where it came…

— Jon Meacham