Video Description: Who was the most fascinating, influential founding father? According to Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham, it wasn’t our first President George Washington or inventor/diplomat/statesman Benjamin Franklin, it was Thomas Jefferson. In this one on one conversation, Meacham states his case to back up this statement and gives insight into the intriguing, complicated, contradictory life of Thomas Jefferson. Some of the topics covered include: Jefferson’s ability to compromise over the dinner table, his ability to combine ideas and plans to bring forth momentous events like the Louisiana Purchase, his affair with slave Sally Hemings and the incredible debt he accrued before his death on July 4, 1826.

• Provide the video to students for their own use in research for an independent or group project related to Thomas Jefferson, early American history, or related topics.
• Use the video in a flipped learning activity and have students come to class prepared to share two insights gained by watching the video and two questions they’d like answered through their own or class research.