During this talk, Meacham will explore what 21st-century leaders in different fields of endeavor can learn from the greatest moments of our common past.
This non-partisan presentation features lessons ranging from Jefferson’s pragmatism and JFK’s capacity to recover from his own mistakes to the management of conflicting egos as shown by Reagan and FDR and how George H.W. Bush dealt with the end of his presidency. Meacham discusses how history can inform the decisions all of us make every day in positions that demand creative and innovative solutions.
Jon Meacham is one of America’s most prominent public intellectuals. With a depth of knowledge about politics, history, religion, and current affairs, Meacham has the unique ability to bring historical context to the issues and events impacting our daily lives.
Meacham is the author of several New York Times bestsellers, including acclaimed books about Thomas Jefferson, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill’s friendship, George H.W. Bush, and civil rights icon John Lewis.
His 2009 book, American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House, won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a fellow of the Society of American Historians, Meacham is a distinguished visiting professor at Vanderbilt University, where he holds the Rogers Chair in the American Presidency.
His latest New York Times bestseller, And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle, was published in October 2022; his next book, The Call to Serve: The Life of George Herbert Walker Bush, is due in June 2024.
Registration using the Library’s online calendar is required. This program will be livestreamed but not recorded. A limited number of signed copies of And There Was Light will be available for purchase through Diane’s Books of Greenwich.
Greenwich Library’s Signature Series offers dynamic, exceptional public programming that engages the Greenwich community and region, featuring nationally recognized experts for timely analysis and conversations that promote an exchange of ideas.
This series is presented by the Greenwich Library Board of Trustees and made possible by charitable contributions from our community.