The Jeffersonians

I paused today on my “listener generation episode week”–I had one of the four last week–so I could talk with Kevin Gutzman about his new book, The Jeffersonians.

This is the first real interview on The Brion McClanahan Show, and it corresponds with Episode 750.

I won’t do another one for a long time, but this was fun.

To make a long story short, you need to buy this book.

The twenty-four years that “Jeffersonians” occupied the executive mansion are perhaps the most important in American history, at least until Lincoln’s administration.

You could argue that Washington set the tone, but Jefferson changed the narrative.

Even after the “Jeffersonians” left office, other men, fully in line with “Jeffersonian America” became President, notably Martin Van Buren, John Tyler, and Franklin Pierce. You could even argue that men like Adams, Taylor, Polk, Jackson, Harrison, and Buchanan were all “Jeffersonians” in one way or another.

He defined the period.

That is what Gutzman argues in this great book.

I’ll probably scribble a review at one point, but until then, the interview is worth a listen, and when you’re done, head over to Amazon or where ever you buy books and grab a copy.

You won’t be disappointed.