Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America

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Ep. 243 | Constitutional Chats Podcast | Dr. Ed Larson | How George Washington Saved Our Republic Feb 22, 2025

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The American Revolution ended in 1781. The Treaty of Paris was signed in 1783. George Washington was elected our country's first president in 1788 and sworn in 1789. Besides the Constitutional Convention 1787, there has not been significant scholarly study into what George Washington was doing in the intervening years between the end of the Revolutionary War and his election as President. Our guest today wrote a book on those years called, "The Return of George Washington: Uniting the States, 1783-1789" and will chat with our student panel on Washington's role in laying the groundwork for the new country during those years. Dr. Ed Larson is a Pulitzer Prize winning author and serves as a senior fellow of the University of Georgia's Institute of Higher Education and is currently University Professor of History at Pepperdine University.

Ep. 242 | Constitutional Chats | George Sifakis | A Day In The Life Of An Assistant To The President Feb 14, 2025

Show notes

The Executive Branch of our country, led by the President, oversees millions of federal employees and hundreds of White House staff. Obviously, the President cannot directly manage all of these employees. To aid in this administrative function, the President appoints several dozen "Assistants to the President." This is the highest ranking staff position in the White House and their duty is to provide strategic counsel and oversee major initiatives based on goals set by the President. To further explain this role, we have a former Assistant to the President on our chat today. George Sifakis served in the first Trump administration as an Assistant to the President and later as Director of the Office of Public Liaison.

Ep. 241 | Constitutional Chats | Christopher Cox on His Book "Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn" Feb 07, 2025

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He was a university president who became the President of the United States. He took us into war with Germany in World War I but later won a Nobel Peace Prize as the leading architect behind the League of Nations. To discuss our 28th President with our student panel, we are pleased to welcome Christopher Cox to talk about his book, "Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn."

Ep 240 | Constitutional Chats Podcast | Jim Pinkerton | Buying Greenland: A Constitutional Deep Dive Jan 31, 2025

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The idea of the United States acquiring Greenland is not a new idea. This idea has been kicked around since the 19th century but revisited with the new presidential administration. Why would the US have an interest in acquiring Greenland? What are the strategic and economic advantages in doing so? How could this acquisition be compared to the Louisiana Purchase? And can it even happen? There are lots of questions surrounding this timely topic and to help our student panel address them, we are happy to welcome back Jim Pinkerton. Jim is a longtime columnist for Fox News and Breitbart and has written on the this topic for the American Conservative.

EEp. 239 | Constitutional Chats Podcast | Sean Spicer | What Happens on Day One in a New White House? Jan 24, 2025

Show notes

When one presidential administration ends, another begins. While the public watches the transition on TV, behind the scenes there's a well orchestrated symphony executing the plan to bring in a new administration. To walk us through the nuts and bolts of what happens behind the scenes, we are joined by a veteran of one such transition as a guest today! Sean Spicer served as the 30th White House Press Secretary and Acting White House Communications Director during the first Trump administration and will share his insight into this historic day.

Ep. 238 | Savannah Eccles Johnston | Checks and Balances in Action: Safeguarding Our Liberties Jan 17, 2025

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How do you create limited, but at the same time, strong and effective government? In tackling this problem, our Founders relied on three branches with each branch having strong offensive and defensive weapons to use against the other branches' possible encroachments. The Founders understood an ineffective government is just as dangerous to liberty as an authoritarian government. They wanted a strong executive branch but didn't want that power concentrated in one person to devolve into tyranny. To walk us through this fascinating topic, we are pleased to welcome Savannah Eccles Johnston. She is an assistant professor of political science at Salt Lake Community College and host of the podcast "This Constitution."

Ep. 237 | Constitutional Chats | Mary Katharine Ham | Has There Been A Free Speech Vibe Shift? Jan 09, 2025

Show notes

Free speech was so important to our Founders they wrote it into the First Amendment to the Constitution. Over the last decade, we have seen an erosion of free speech support through cancel culture, suppression on college campuses and "fact checkers" on social media platforms. Did we finally reach a tipping point and are beginning to rally once again around the idea of free speech? Just this week we saw Meta announce they will no longer use fact checkers but community notes in their platforms. To discuss this topic with our all-star student panel, we are pleased to welcome FOX News contributor and author Mary Katharine Ham to this week's show.

Ep. 236 | GianCarlo Canaparo | The Bill of Rights: How It Came About and the Debates That Shaped It Dec 19, 2024

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It's 1787. Under the current Articles of Confederation the American experiment is struggling. James Madison knew a new guiding document was needed. Once opposed to a Bill of Rights, it was Madison who would ultimately introduce the Bill of Rights in 1789. Why was Madison originally opposed to a Bill of Rights? What documents influenced him? Why were the Bill of Rights necessary and what were the criticisms of the Constitution before the Bill of Rights? Discussing this momentous event in history with our student panel, we are happy to welcome GianCarlo Canaparo, senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation.

Ep. 235 | Constitutional Chats | Kirk Higgins | How To Get Youth Excited About Civic Education & Why Dec 13, 2024

Show notes

Why does Constituting America do the work we do in educating young people about the U.S. Constitution and our country's founding principles? Think about this. According to our guest, in a spectral analysis of the Declaration of Independence, in Thomas Jefferson's original draft, he wrote "our fellow subjects." In the draft we all know, he used "our fellow citizens." The difference in that word is remarkable. It shows the change in thinking that we were once subjects to a government but now we are citizens who can dictate our government so that it works for us. Constituting America exists to educate our next generation so they can understand the importance in that shift in mindset. Our guest argues that a solid civic education is needed to maintain that free society of citizens, not subjects. Join our all-star student panel and this week's; guest, Kirk Higgins, Vice President of Content at the Bill of Rights Institute, for this discussion on educating our next generation.

Ep. 237 - The Genius of America: How De Tocqueville Saw Our Future Dec 06, 2024

Show notes

For our annual online academic study this year, we are taking a journey through our republic with Alexis de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America." It is perhaps the best book ever written about America and democracy, according to our guest today. In this work, De Toqueville takes on an almost prophetic voice in predicting the future of our country and our constitutional republic. How was De Tocqueville able to leverage his knowledge of philosophy to accomplish this? What truths was he willing to tell us about our governmental institutions? To walk us through this aspect of De Toqueville's work, we are honored to welcome Raúl Rodriguez, assistant professor in the School of Civic Leadership at the University of Texas at Austin, for this enlightening conversation.

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