Repairing Jefferson's America: A Guide to Civility and Enlightened Citizenship

by Clay S. Jenkinson

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was the greatest idealist of the Founding Fathers of America. He believed that average citizens are up to the challenge of governing themselves. He envisioned a republic of well-educated, well-informed, engaged, and vigilant citizens. Jefferson's dream of a semi-utopian American republic has nearly been swallowed up by cynical partisanship, government gridlock, consumer materialism, and the corrosive power of money in American politics. Jefferson believed in civility, majority rule, the primacy of science and reason, and harmony in all of our public and private relations. Public humanities scholar Clay S. Jenkinson believes we can return to Jeffersonian principles both in our private lives and the public sphere. Repairing Jefferson's America is a clear and concise guide for those who wish to live more rational, purposeful, and enlightened lives.

Genres: History

208 pages, Paperback

Published August 10, 2020

About the author

Clay Jenkinson is one of the most sought-after humanities scholars in the United States

A cultural commentator who has devoted most of his professional career to public humanities programs, Clay Jenkinson has been honored by two presidents for his work. On November 6, 1989, he received from President George Bush one of the first five Charles Frankel Prizes, the National Endowment for the Humanities highest award (now called the National Humanities Medal), at the nomination of the NEH Chair, Lynne Cheney. On April 11, 1994, he was the first public humanities scholar to present a program at a White House-sponsored event when he presented Thomas Jefferson for a gathering hosted by President and Mrs. Clinton. When award-winning humanities documentary producer Ken Burns turned his attention to Thomas Jefferson, he asked Clay Jenkinson to be the major humanities commentator. Since his first work with the North Dakota Humanities Council in the late 1970s, including a pioneering first-person interpretation of Meriwether Lewis, Clay Jenkinson has made thousands of presentations throughout the United States and its territories, including Guam and the Northern Marianas.

In 2008, Clay became the director of The Dakota Institute through The Lewis & Clark, Fort Mandan Foundation, to further expand his humanities programs with documentary films, symposiums and literary projects. He is also the Chief Consultant for the Theodore Roosevelt Center through Dickinson State University and conducts an annual lecture series for Bismarck State College.

Clay is also widely sought after as a commencement speaker (he has several honorary doctorates); as a facilitator of teacher institutes on Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, Classical Culture, the Millennium, and other topics; as a lecturer on topics ranging from the "Unresolved Issues of the Millennium," to the "Character of Meriwether Lewis"; as a consultant to a range of humanities programs, chiefly first person historical interpretation (Chautauqua). Best known for his award-winning historical impersonations of Thomas Jefferson, Clay Jenkinson also impersonates other characters, including Meriwether Lewis, John Wesley Powell, Robert Oppenheimer, Theodore Roosevelt and John Steinbeck.

Clay Jenkinson can:

Serve as a cultural commentator on a range of topics
Conduct humanities institutes and cultural tours
Present historical programs in character with audiance interaction.
Provide live video programs through i-Chat to your classroom or business.
The rates for Clay Jenkinson's professional humanities presentations will vary. if you are interested in more information or in booking or contacting Clay Jenkinson for any professionally related reason, please call Nancy Franke a Dakota Sky Education, Inc at toll free at 1 888 828 2853 or e-mail at nfranke@comcast.net

Public Speaking
If you are interested in knowing more about Clay's topics and characters, please visit http://dakotaskyed.wordpress.com. The views on the mentioned website are Clay Jenkinson's and do not reflect the views of The Thomas Jefferson Hour® nor any of its sponsors.

Social Commentary
Clay Jenkinson is a popular social commentator. While on The Thomas Jefferson Hour®, Clay strictly adheres to the rules of being a humanities scholar (neutrality). If you are interested in Clay's personal views, please consider reading Clay's Weekly Columns.

The views on the mentioned website are Clay Jenkinson's and do not reflect the views of The Thomas Jefferson Hour nor any of its sponsors.
http://www.jeffersonhour.com/about%20...

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been an admirer of Jefferson and a listener to Clay Jenkinson's "Thomas Jefferson Hour" podcast for many years now.

While I do consider many political ideals I subscribe to as deriving from Jefferson, it's difficult to deny that American society has developed in a very different way than Jefferson hoped. His vision was optimistic, if not entirely unrealistic in his era. Today, it would take a massive social revolution at the very least.

I was curious to see how Jenkinson would try to reconcile Jefferson's politics with modern America, and I was somewhat disappointed with his answer. Though Jenkinson acknowledged that we are far removed from Jefferson's vision, he seemed disinterested, or perhaps just uneasy, with making any attempt to rectify this. "Just stay healthy" may have been an acceptable proposal in the early 1800's, but few would be satisfied with this as an alternative to Single-Payer Healthcare. Keeping the government out of the economy made sense in an agrarian society, but what check would there otherwise be on the power of monopolies in the modern post-industrial economy?

Simply put, strictly interpreting Jefferson's politics on modern America would not create the egalitarian and semi-anarchist nation of educated farmers that Jefferson wanted. His views were from a society too far removed from our own, and that's without mention of the problems with them even there.

This isn't to say Jefferson's ideals are without any modern utility. As Jenkinson here lays out, Jefferson's vision of citizenship is one many of us can learn from. This is where the book shines most, when it discusses the ways in which we can strive to better ourselves as individuals. There is far too much toxicity in political discourse, far too much focus on economic success rather than on self-betterment. Jefferson's politics may be extremely outdated, but adherence to his philosophy is exactly what is missing in modern America.

Jenkinson is quite right to point this out, though I am also somewhat disappointed that he is largely unwilling to defend Jefferson. He advocates for Jeffersonian ideas, but he largely takes criticism of Jefferson at face value. To some extent this is understandable - Jenkinson didn't want to make this a work of Jefferson apologia, but rather a defense of Jeffersonian ideals. Still, I worry that most people who care about Jeffersonian ideals will be Jefferson apologists - like myself - while most people who condemn Jefferson will be unlikely to even pick this book up, much less give these ideas an honest shot.

Still, I hope Jenkinson is right and that I'm misguided in my skepticism.

[John Matthew IV · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read about being a Jeffersonian in the 21st century.

This is not a biography of Jefferson but a collection of his thinking and writing.

Recommended to read and re-read!

P. 17: "Today, serious historians declare that Jefferson raped Sally Hemings for thirty-four years, that he was a predatory pedophile, that his relations with his daughters were psychologically incestuous, that he raised baby slaves for the sale barn, and that he, more than any other single figure, left to us a legacy of racism, structured racism, apartheid, crime, and broken black families."
p. 21: "nunc dimittis (Luke 2:25-32)
p. 47: "Jeffersonians believe in immersion in other civilizations, and they apprehend those cultures with curiosity and wonder rather than judgment."
p. 54: "We are free, but we freely watch the same television programs...." This is not true!
p. 56-7: "[Jefferson] was committed to lifelong learning, and he seems to have believed not that education is a preparation for life, but that it is a way of life in an enlightened world, especially in a society that has committed itself to self-government."
p. 67: "Jefferson is the patron saint of generalists, of gifted dilettantes, of deep dabblers, of those who eschew a narrowly focused expertise in work or in the art of living."
p. 72: "Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing."
p. 94: "In the batture case that plagued him in his retirement ...."
p. 123: "De gustibus non est disputandum." In English:"In matters of taste, there can be no disputes"
p. 124: What to Read:
1) Plutach's Lives
2) The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
3) The Unsettling of America by Wendall Barry
4) The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan
5) A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
6) Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Harari
7) Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Dafoe
8) Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker
9) The Invention of Science by David Wooten
10) The Heart of Humanities by Mark Edmundson

p. 133: The Alcoholic Republic: An American Tradition by W.J. Rorabaugh
p. 148: "you and I differ, but we differ as rational friends."
p. 197: "Judgment is easy, understanding is hard"

[P. Henninger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Upon reconsideration


My initial rating was 4 out of 5, but after some thought, that seemed unfair. Clearly, Mr Jenkinson put as much thought and reflection into his ideas as he always does in his podcasts.

It is clear that he is passionate about how our nation would benefit from returning to Jeffersonian notions, without glossing over Jefferson's obvious contradictions. He believes that what makes a person remarkable is not their flaws, but what they accomplish in spite of those flaws (I think that Ken Burns voiced that idea, but I could be wrong.) Jefferson is the perfect example of this.

I cannot say that I agree with all of his prescriptions for being a Jeffersonian, but Jenkinson is a reasonable man, so we will simply disagree. For instance, I think that Jefferson was ambivalent about religion, to the point that he would not have considered it a violation of the Establishment Clause that a high school valedictorian prayed. After all, such an action would not have broken his leg or picked his pocket. Jefferson was not a man to be offended easily, certainly not one to demand that everyone comply, because he was "offended" So, I regard the practice of faith as a matter of "free exercise" , nothing more . That is my assessment of what would be Jeffersonian as it pertains to faith and religion.

So, while I might differ as to the specifics of how to be one of Jefferson's Americans, I wholeheartedly agree with Jenkinson on the necessity of doing so in the best interests of our nation.

Even if you are not familiar with Clay Jenkinson, there is a lot to learn and consider in "Repairing Jefferson's America". It is well worth your time, as is listening to the "Thomas Jefferson Hour" podcasts .

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I had to guess, I would venture to say that there is not another living American who so intimately comprehends the paradoxical personality of Thomas Jefferson than does Clay Jenkinson. If you'd like to get to know better Jefferson the man (with all his virtues and sins) than what the standard histories can teach you, this is the book to read. In Jenkins's view, the American Republic, as conceived by Jefferson, has vanished. He contends that we are no longer a nation of politically and culturally engaged, self reliant citizens realizing our own destiny under a government of limited power. For Jenkinson, the government that Jefferson dreamed of has been shattered by divisive partisanship, gridlock, career politicians, money men and lobbies, an over-extended military and a monarchical presidency. As for our civic duty, as Jenkinson might put it, too many Americans today would much rather watch football on TV and eat Taco Bell than make their voices heard in the public square. He sees "Jeffersonian" principles--despite the hypocrisy of Jefferson himself-- as a remedy for our decline as responsible citizens and a path to better government, individual enlightenment and human happiness. To get a better idea of what these Jeffersonian principles are, you should read Jenkinson's book.

[Old Time Tales · Rating 5 out of 5]

Democrats. Republicans. MAGA. BLM. LGBTQ. QAnon. Red states and Blue states. Obama. Trump. Biden.

We are a divided nation living in a world of misconceptions. We don't really understand who we are or where we came from. We prefer wishful thinking to accepting facts.

And it's always been that way.

We all dream of "how it used to be". Was it ever that way? No. But could we, perhaps, create that world of a truly great American Republic?

Yes. Perhaps. Well, maybe.

In this book the acknowledged Jefferson historian and humanities scholar Clay Jenkinson acknowledges Jefferson, his greatness and his weaknesses. He sifts through and examines, explains and discards the weaknesses while focusing on the greatness and how we can still use Jefferson to create a better America.

This is a difficult book to read. Jenkinson is well educated and expects you to be able to follow him on his level. I am not well educated, not to his degree, but had so much fun trying to keep up with him, learning from him, that the struggle was well worth it.

If you choose to read this be prepared to leave old views behind. What we were taught about Jefferson in middle school is not the complete story. He was both a much greater man and a much poorer man than we were led to believe.

And his greatness could still save our nation today.

Read this book. Follow Jenkinson's "Listening to America" podcast. Be a Jeffersonian. Save America.

[Jeff Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve listened to Clay Jenkinson’s show for fifteen years, so I knew what to expect when I opened this book. It is indeed a precious gem, a little island of sanity in a sea of noisy chaos. If people lived and acted as “Jeffersonians” in the manner described by Jenkinson, many of the pressing problems faced by our nation would disappear almost overnight.

I do have one objection, however, and I think it is an important one. As a devout church-going Christian, I felt that Jenkinson stereotyped and disdained “evangelicals” at many points in the book. At one point, he even stated that a believer in the divinity of Jesus cannot truly be “Jeffersonian”. This is not true at all, as was clear in Jefferson’s own time. Jenkinson needs to follow his own advice and be a bit more open-minded and less dogmatic on this point.

[Keith Welch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. To me Jenkinson is a better speaker than writer, but this is a practical book about how to behave in a more Jeffersonian, enlightened way. Really like the selection of TJ's letters.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

No better book for our time. Thank you Mr. Jenkinson sharing the essence of Jefferson ideal of America. It is one we can all get behind.

[Matthew Tortora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clay is an important figure in Jefferson scholarship, if only for his contributions in continuing a semblance of Jeffersonian ideals today. While not exactly just platitudes the book contains a lot of what you could call truths hiding in plain sight.

Though the book is full of itself sometimes, it is an interesting perspective especially for someone who isn’t as familiar with the Jeffersonian worldview.

[Allen Perry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for those truly civically minded folks that believe in the ideal of representative democracy. In these divisive times this book gives us a way forward apart form partisan fighting and asks us each to be engaged and intelligent in our decisions and political choices.