2023 Hazel and Fulton Chauncey Lecture - The Jeffersonians

On July 19, 2023, historian and bestselling author, Kevin R. C. Gutzman, presented the 2023 Hazel and Fulton Chauncey Lecture. Before the consecutive two-term administrations of Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama, there had only been one other trio of its type: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe. Kevin R. C. Gutzman’s The Jeffersonians is a complete chronicle of the men, known as The Virginia Dynasty, who served as president from 1801 to 1825. 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 the importation of enslaved people beginning on January 1, 1808. Gutzman’s new book details a time in America when three presidents worked toward common goals to face challenges and strengthen our republic in a way we rarely see in American politics today. Kevin R. C. Gutzman is Professor of History at Western Connecticut State University and a faculty member at LibertyClassroom.com. He has his law degree from the University of Texas Law School and his Ph.D. in American history from the University of Virginia. His books include Thomas Jefferson—Revolutionary; James Madison and the Making of America; Virginia’s American Revolution; Who Killed the Constitution? (with Thomas Woods); and The Jeffersonians: The Visionary Presidencies of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe. The content and opinions expressed in these presentations are solely those of the speaker and not necessarily of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.