19 OCT 2023 · In episode nine of the Founding Fathers' Legacy Series, Former Washington DC Mayor Sharon Pratt continues her exploration of America's first president, George Washington. She speaks with historical writer David O. Stewart about Washington's persona and political rise, as well as his experience leading an army. Check out David O. Stewart's book here: https://davidostewart.com/books/george-washington-the-political-rise-of-americas-founding-father/

19 OCT 2023 · In episode eight of the Founding Fathers' Legacy Series, Former Washington DC Mayor Sharon Pratt dives into the life of America's first president, George Washington. She speaks with professor and Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winning historian, Joseph J. Ellis. Professor Ellis discusses George Washington's public persona, his view on the presidency and his role in bringing the capital to Washington D.C. He also discusses Washington's involvement in slavery and how he was perceived by others, including the other Founding Fathers. Check out Joseph Ellis' book here: https://www.amazon.com/His-Excellency-Washington-Joseph-Ellis/dp/1400032539

19 OCT 2023 · For the final episode on Thomas Jefferson, Former D.C Mayor, Sharon Pratt hosts the "Where Do We Go From Here Symposium" live from Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. The Series examines the education, philosophical influences, personal experiences, and the economic influences on these three Founding Fathers. The Series hosts 4-5 audio podcasts per President highlighting their education, their wives, their early careers, and their economic influences. With each President, the final episode is at their home (Montpelier, Monticello, and Mount Vernon.) A historic discussion with panelists: Former Mayor Sharon Pratt, IPPH Founding Director Michael Steele, Former RNC Chair, "MSNBC" political analyst, and former Lt. Gov. Maryland Niya Bates, Ph.D. candidate, Department of History & Department of African American Studies, Princeton University Lisa A. Francavilla, Ph.D., Senior Managing Editor, Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series, International Center for Jefferson Studies John A. Ragosta, Ph.D./J.D., Interim Saunders Director, Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello With funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation & MFS Investments Coming up next: George Washington.

3 JUL 2023 · In episode seven of the Founding Fathers' Legacy Series, Former Washington D.C Mayor Sharon Pratt speaks with Gayle Jessup White to examine Thomas Jefferson's legacy, his descendants and America’s complex racial history. Gayle Jessup White is the Public Relations & Community Engagement Officer at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s legendary estate, and a direct descendant of Jefferson. She speaks with Sharon Pratt about her quest to research her connection to Thomas Jefferson after hearing stories passed down from her father's family that they were descendants of Thomas Jefferson. Gayle Jessup White is also the author of "Reclamation: Sally Hemings, Thomas Jefferson, and a Descendant's Search for Her Family's Lasting Legacy." The book chronicles her remarkable journey to understand and reclaim her heritage and ensure the nation lives up to the ideals advocated by her legendary ancestor.

29 JUN 2023 · In episode six of the Founding Fathers' Legacy Series, Former Washington D.C Mayor Sharon Pratt dives into the life of Thomas Jefferson. Of all the founding fathers, he stood out as perhaps the most controversial and the most confounding. In this episode, she speaks with Professor Robert MacDonald about the complicated and powerful impact of the third president on our founding and our early years as a nation. Professor MacDonald discusses how Jefferson was unique among the Founding Fathers, what his greatest influences were, and Jefferson's bitter relationship with John Adams. They also discuss Jefferson's complicated relationship with slavery and how the man who wrote the words “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” did not provide liberty to the enslaved children he fathered with Sally Hemmings until they became adults. While we can see his limitations, we can also look to him for inspiration. Professor Robert MacDonald teaches history at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He is the author of multiple books on Thomas Jefferson, including "Confounding Father: Thomas Jefferson’s Image in His Own Time" and "Thomas Jefferson’s Lives: Biographers and the Battle for History." Join us in the next episode when we speak with Gayle Jessup White, a descendant of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, as we explore Jefferson through the prism of America’s racial divide.

28 MAR 2023 · For the final episode on James Madison, Former D.C Mayor, Sharon Pratt hosts the "Where Do We Go From Here Symposium" live from Montpelier, the home of James Madison. The historic discussion includes guests: Michael Steele (Former RNC Chair, MSNBC political analyst and former Lt. Gov., Md) James French, Chair, Montpelier Foundation Board of Directors Professor Hasan Jeffries, Associate Professor of History, The Ohio State University, and Vice Chair Montpelier Foundation Dr. Tyson Reeder: Assistant Professor and Assistant Editor, Papers of James Madison, The University of Virginia Dr. Holly Cowan Shulman, Associate Professor for Studies in Women and Gender at the University of Virginia and author “Dolley Madison: Her Life, Letters, and Legacy.” Coming up next: Thomas Jefferson and the role he played in establishing the Nation’s Capital in the South, along the banks of the Potomac.

16 MAR 2023 · In episode four of the Founding Fathers' Legacy Series, Former Washington D.C Mayor Sharon Pratt engages in a deeper dive around Madison’s legacy – in particular how his legacy is complicated by his enslavement of men, women, and children on his plantation. In 2019, the Montpelier Descendants Committee was established to ensure the narratives of the enslaved at Montpelier are remembered and honored. The Montpelier Descendants Committee is the “nation’s first independent, descendant led organization to be associated with a major historic site.” Until recently, the histories and memories of enslaved peoples have been amazingly excluded from reflection and interpretation at any of the iconic founding father sites, while the question of who gets to tell history has always been – and likely will always be – rife with tensions. Sharon Pratt speaks with James French, chairman of the Montpelier Foundation Board of Directors and Founding Chairman of the Montpelier Descendants Committee. For the final episode on James Madison, James French joins Michael Steele and Mayor Pratt at Montpelier for a live event, with Dr. Hasan Jeffries, Dr. Tyson Reeder and Dr. Holly Shulman.

8 MAR 2023 · In episode three of the Founding Fathers' Legacy Series, Former Washington D.C Mayor Sharon Pratt examines Montpelier, the family home of James Madison and the place that shaped his life. It is a place where he spent countless hours drafting iterations of his vision for a strong national government. It is also a place which embodies the paradoxes of the American Revolution – the fight for liberty while aggressively preserving the practice of slavery. Sharon Pratt speaks with Dr. Matthew Reeves, Director of Archaeology and Landscape Restoration at Montpelier for over 20 years. Dr. Reeves works to excavate the stories of those who were essential to America's (and certainly Madison's) economic progress. She also speaks with Dr. Holly Cowan Shulman, who is the Editor of The Dolley Madison Digital Edition at the University of Virginia, the first ever complete edition of Dolley Madison's own correspondence. Her diligent scholarship provides new insights into the Madison’s as partners and their experiences at Montpelier. Next episode, we will delve into James Madison’s legacy with James French, the Chairman of the Montpelier Foundation Board of Directors and founding Chairman of the Montpelier Descendant Committee.

1 FEB 2023 · In episode two of the Founding Fathers' Legacy Series, Former Washington D.C Mayor Sharon Pratt examines the world of revolutionary America, learning more about the political, social, and economic environment the Founding Fathers operated in. Sharon Pratt speaks with Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky, a presidential historian and award-winning author of "The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution" about the early, unsettling period for our new nation, the competing ideas and symbolic importance of the new nation's capital. She also speaks with Dr. Woody Holton, the McCausland Professor of History at the University of South Carolina, about the decision to break from Great Britain and the outsize role of Virginians in the Revolution and then the new republic. Next episode, we will hear more about these contradictions as we explore life at Montpelier – the lifelong home of our fourth president, “the father of the Constitution," James Madison.

17 JAN 2023 · To understand the establishment of the city of Washington, DC by our nation’s founders is to understand the promise of the American experience and the challenges that remain to achieve that more perfect union. In the Founding Father Legacy Series, Sharon Pratt, former Mayor of Washington D.C, explores the history of the founding of our nation’s capital, the role of the founders in the city’s creation, and the enduring idea of Washington as a symbol of democracy around the world. This Series will look at the three men who were key to the creation of the nation and the city that is its capital, Washington, DC. Episode I explores the least well-known of the three, James Madison, and the role he played in founding our nation's capital. Mayor Pratt speaks with Fergus Bordewich, author of "Washington: The Making of the American Capital," about the characters, the compromises, and the politics of the new American capital.