“Jefferson was ambivalent about executive power – until he bore executive responsibility.” — Jon Meacham Copy Share Image
“Leadership meant knowing how to distill complexity into a comprehensible message to reach the hearts as well as the minds of the… — Jon Meacham Copy Share Image
“A politician's task was to bring reality and policy into the greatest possible account with the ideal and the principled.” — Jon Meacham Copy Share Image
“Politics was at once clinical and human, driven by principles and passions that he (the leader) had to master and harness for… — Jon Meacham Copy Share Image
Jefferson was the rare leader who stood out from the crowd without intimidating it. — Jon Meacham Copy Share Image
“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 Copy Share Image
“He turned the presidency – and the President's House – into something it had not been before: a center of curiosity and… — Jon Meacham Copy Share Image
Our greatest leaders are neither dreamers nor dictators: They are, like Jefferson, those who articulate national aspirations yet master the mechanics of… — Jon Meacham Copy Share Image
“Americans tend to prefer their presidents on horseback: heroes who dream big and sound trumpets. There is, however, another kind of leader… — Jon Meacham Copy Share Image
“At every significant point in the four centuries since English settlers laid the foundations for the nation we know—at every significant point—American… — Jon Meacham Copy Share Image
A lot of people, including business leaders, think the future belongs to China. Globalization is not a zero-sum game, but we need… — Jon Meacham Copy Share Image
“Jackson lead as he lived, sometimes with his heart, sometimes with his mind, sometimes with both.” — Jon Meacham Copy Share Image
“There is usually a moment in the life of a new president when he begins to see himself not as an aspirant… — Jon Meacham Copy Share Image
Scripture is not inerrant; believers are called to interpret biblical texts in light of tradition and reason. — Jon Meacham Copy Share Image
As a southerner born after the epic events of the civil rights movement, I've always wondered how on earth people of good will could… — Jon Meacham Copy Share Image
We are now living in a post-Roosevelt, post-Reagan universe. What comes next will not be post-partisan, because faction is an intrinsic human impulse. — Jon Meacham Copy Share Image
“his other hand. Sensitive to his guest’s affliction, Churchill realized that “every step” was” — Jon Meacham Copy Share Image
Too many activists have convinced themselves that they have a monopoly on truth. A little humility and a sense of history could move us… — Jon Meacham Copy Share Image
In the fullness of time, I suspect that bigotry against homosexuals will seem as repugnant as racial prejudice does today. Or so one hopes. — Jon Meacham Copy Share Image
Mysteries and thrillers are not the same things, though they are literary siblings. Roughly put, I would say the distinction is that mysteries emphasize… — Jon Meacham Copy Share Image
“When Lincoln was running for the House of Representatives from Illinois, he was charged with being “a scoffer at religion,” wrote the historian William… — Jon Meacham Copy Share Image
“The Man who has not Music in his Soul, Or is not touch’d with Concord of sweet Sounds, Is fit for Treason, Stratagems, and… — Jon Meacham Copy Share Image
I am an Episcopalian who takes the faith of my fathers seriously, and I would, I think, be disheartened if my own young children… — Jon Meacham Copy Share Image
Only the most unapologetic biblical fundamentalists, for instance, take every biblical injunction literally. If we all took all scripture at the same level of… — Jon Meacham Copy Share Image
“There was, of course, a more immediate point to frequent gatherings of lawmakers, diplomats, and cabinet officers at the president’s table. It tends to… — Jon Meacham Copy Share Image
