Buck Wild: Gouverneur Morris - The Filthiest Founding Father

Some Founding Fathers wrote constitutions.Some fought wars.Gouverneur Morris somehow found time to do both while carrying on romantic affairs across two continents with the confidence of a man who had clearly never considered the phrase “maybe don’t.”In this episode of The Buck Starts Here, Kyle and Rae dive into the wildly entertaining life of the man who wrote the preamble to the Constitution, helped design New York City’s grid system, fiercely condemned slavery at the Constitutional Convention……and developed a legendary reputation for loving women almost as much as he loved liberty.We cover:• The carriage accident that cost Morris his leg• The jealous husband rumors• John Jay openly gossiping about him in letters• His anti-slavery speeches at the Constitutional Convention• “We the People” and the writing of the Constitution• His years in revolutionary France• Attempts to save the French monarchy• Aristocratic affairs across Europe• The New York City grid system• Hamilton’s deathbed• And the deeply bizarre whalebone incident that ended his lifeBut somewhere underneath all the scandal, gossip, and “celebratory liaisons,” the episode takes an unexpected turn.Because Gouverneur Morris also turns out to be:intellectually serious fiercely anti-slavery unusually supportive of women for his era and one of the more forward-thinking political minds of the Founding generation.Which is deeply inconvenient for anyone hoping he was just a horny chaos goblin with a peg leg.Unfortunately for history textbooks, he was both.Music: Military March Drums by KimyF. from Pixabay