The power of the American system of republicanism lies in its capacity to allow religious belief to be a competing, not a controlling, factor in American life. – Jon Meacham
From Jefferson to Jackson to Lincoln to FDR to Reagan, every great president inspires enormous affection and enormous hostility. Well all be much saner, I think, if we remember that history is full of surprises and things that seemed absolutely certain one day are often unimaginable the next. – Jon Meacham
If a person is homosexual by nature – that is, if ones sexuality is as intrinsic a part of ones identity as gender or skin color – then society can no more deny a gay person access to the secular rights and religious sacraments because of his homosexuality than it can reinstate Jim Crow. – Jon Meacham
Part of what I loved – and love – about being around older people is the tangible sense of history they embody. Im interested in military history, for instance, because both my grandfathers fought in World War II. Im interested in writing because one of those grandfathers wrote books. – Jon Meacham