Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America

Most of us are familiar with the heroes of the American Revolution like George Washington, John Paul Jones and Alexander Hamilton.  But there are so many brave war heroes who risked everything to win our country’s independence.  Today, we celebrate those lesser-known, but by no means less-important, historical figures.  Our guest is a long-time friend to Constituting America.  Tom Hand will discuss his  new book highlighting these figures and share his knowledge with our student panel in this very informative and fascinating conversation.

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America

Did you know the post office is older than our country?  The history of the United States Post Office is fascinating and is an excellent reminder of the need for fast communication across the nation before the modern era of instant global communication.  As we celebrate the birthday of the post office, who better to talk us through the history of the post office, including which Founding Father was involved with its operations for more than 40 years, than the historian of the United States Postal Service?  Our guest is Stephen Kochersperger and he began his postal career more...

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America

They each brought a different skill set to the table.  Some were born to lead armies.  Some were born to pen the spirit of the new country on paper.  Some were born to build foreign relations.  Their skill sets were all needed and their lasting legacy defines American Exceptionalism.  Today we are discussing the virtues of the Founding Fathers and how their virtues culminated in the American Experiment.  To walk us through this fantastic lesson, we are delighted to welcome Dr. Jennifer London.  Dr. London is a prolific author, speaker and President of the...

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America

The Few. The Proud.  The Marines.  Today, we are discussing this legendary fighting force as we celebrate the United States Marines’ 250th birthday. For 250 years, the Marines have shown up to protect our freedom, and helped establish the Untied States as the world’s superpower. To discuss the evolution of this branch of our military, we are honored to welcome back Dr. James Robbins, Dean of Academics at the Institute of World Politics; Senior Fellow in National Security Affairs at the American Foreign Policy Council; Former special assistant in the Office of the Secretary of...

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America

There’s one for George Washington.  Thomas Jefferson has one.  Not to overlook the President who served between those two, our country has a concerted to build a memorial to John Adams and his family on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. To discuss this process, the hurdles involved and why President Adams-and his family-is deserving of such an honor, we are delighted to welcome Jackie Gingrich Cushman, chair of the Adams Memorial Commission and president of the Adams Memorial Foundation to our chat this week.

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America

Our country owes a lot of gratitude to the generation of men and women who were the Founders of this country and wrote its founding documents.  Too often we forget  they were walking in uncharted territory: they were the first group of colonies to successfully break away from an empire, we were the first post-colonial country and the first nation founded on moral principles.  What they accomplished was unprecedented.  Today, we examine the role of the Second Continental Congress in achieving this success.  To explain why he calls them the “greatest generation,” we...

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America

Operating 11 carrier strike groups and numerous cruisers, destroyers, frigates and submarines among other ships and vessels, the United States Navy is the world’s most powerful Navy.  Composed of roughly 330,00 active personnel, our Navy is ready to protect American interests across the globe.  This month, our country will celebrate the 250th birthday of this incredible fighting force.  To “captain” today’s discussion, we are honored to welcome one of the Navy’s own as our guest.  Captain Kevin Wensing (Ret.) spent 26 years in the Navy and has worked with numerous...

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America

Why has it become harder for differing views to have a conversation about those views that does not devolve into name calling, personal attacks and yelling? We have all witnessed it in our circle of family and friends.  We should not have to live like this especially when that disagreement turns violent and lives are lost.  At Constituting America, we have promoted the idea of civil discourse for years and want to see more of it in the public sphere.  But how can we make that happen?  To have an open and frank conversation, we are honored to welcome Joel Del Rosario to our...

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America

Today we wrap up our discussion on checks and balances with special guest Dr. Susan McWilliams.  In this concluding episode, Dr. McWilliams takes us back to our founding and explains why the founders created a system of separation of powers and checks and balances, dividing power between the branches, with mechanisms for the branches to check each other. The Founders recognized the need and virtue in ambition but also its potential path to tyranny, so they prioritized protecting natural rights in order to keep us free.  Join us as Dr. Susan McWilliams walks us through this...

Constitutional Chats Presented By Constituting America

What makes a Supreme Court case a landmark case?  That’s going to mean something different to each of us.  Generally those cases that plow new ground can be viewed as landmark.  The Supreme Court rules on a wide range of cases that affect the way our government functions.  To discuss a number of these cases, our special guest today is Thomas Jipping, Senior Legal Fellow, Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation.