For the Ages: A History Podcast

Virginia Dynasty: Four Presidents and the Creation of the American Nation

October 02, 2023 New-York Historical Society Season 3 Episode 3
Virginia Dynasty: Four Presidents and the Creation of the American Nation
For the Ages: A History Podcast
More Info
For the Ages: A History Podcast
Virginia Dynasty: Four Presidents and the Creation of the American Nation
Oct 02, 2023 Season 3 Episode 3
New-York Historical Society

Making up the earliest class of United States presidents, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe were all born and raised within the same sixty-mile circle east of the Blue Ridge Mountains, making up a “Virginia Dynasty” that came to shape America during the formative decades following the revolution. Author Lynne Cheney examines the friendships and rivalries within this “Virginia Dynasty,” and the contradiction between their espoused ideals of American liberty and prosperity and their status as slaveholders.
Recorded on December 3, 2020 


Show Notes

Making up the earliest class of United States presidents, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe were all born and raised within the same sixty-mile circle east of the Blue Ridge Mountains, making up a “Virginia Dynasty” that came to shape America during the formative decades following the revolution. Author Lynne Cheney examines the friendships and rivalries within this “Virginia Dynasty,” and the contradiction between their espoused ideals of American liberty and prosperity and their status as slaveholders.
Recorded on December 3, 2020