Category: Presidents
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James Monroe
James Monroe: The Last Founding Father James Monroe spent his life trying to get into the room—and eventually ended up at the head of the table. From Revolutionary soldier to diplomat to president, Monroe helped negotiate the Louisiana Purchase, nearly dueled Alexander Hamilton, and left behind the Monroe Doctrine. But his legacy is also full…
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James Madison
James Madison helped build the system that still governs America today. In this entry, I unpack the life of the Constitution’s chief architect, America’s first politician, and a man who was often far better at designing power than wielding it.
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Thomas Jefferson
One of America’s greatest thinkers. One of its most frustrating hypocrites. In this entry, I unpack Thomas Jefferson — the brilliance, the contradictions, the mess, and the mythology.
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John Adams
John Adams is often overshadowed by the men around him — but he shouldn’t be. In this second entry, I look at Adams not as the “forgotten” founder, but as a brilliant, complicated thinker — revolutionary, president, and a man who refused to stay quiet, even when it cost him.
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George Washington
The first president and one of the most mythologized figures in American history. In this first entry, I look at George Washington not as a statue, but as a person — war hero, nation-builder, enslaver, and walking contradiction.