Originally published on June 17, 2015 (Episode 20)
Introduction
What did it mean for America’s Founders to be not only statesmen but also fathers? In The Founders as Fathers: The Private Lives and Politics of the American Revolution’s First Generation (Yale, 2015), Lorri Glover examines the intersection of family life and politics during the Revolutionary era.
In this holiday mash-up of July 4th and Father’s Day, we discuss how George Washington, infertile yet quickly called the “Father of His Country,” became so central to national identity. We ask why other founders hurried home as often as possible, whether there was a parenting crisis during the Revolution, and whether Jackie Custis really was the worst stepson in history.
About the Guest
Lorri Glover is John Francis Bannon Endowed Chair, Department of History, Saint Louis University. She is author or co-author of four previous books on early American history, including The Shipwreck that Saved Jamestown: The Sea Venture Castaways and the Fate of America, co-author with Daniel Blake Smith (Henry Holt, 2008) and Southern Sons: Becoming Men in the New Nation (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007)
For Further Investigation
Lorri Glover, The Founders as Fathers: The Private Lives and Politics of the American Revolution’s First Generation (Yale, 2015)
💬 Listen & Discuss
How should we understand the Founders as fathers—of families and of a nation? What does their private life reveal about their public legacy? Share your thoughts in the comments, and pass this along to a student of American history (or to a dad).
