Clay Jenkinson may be the closest thing to Thomas Jefferson since Jefferson himself.
A Rhodes scholar and writer, he impersonates Jefferson on a weekly public radio show, and he’s played Jefferson to Supreme Court justices, the Clinton’s, fifth graders, convicted felons, and Nobel laureates.
Thomas Jefferson was a reluctant president, a lover of fine wine and literature, a meticulous architect and inventor, a prolific writer, and a conflicted slave owner – he encompassed in his vision, actions, and wide-ranging interests much of what makes America American.
This, Jenkinson says, is why Thomas Jefferson is the perfect lens for dissecting contemporary society. Jefferson once wrote: “I know my principles to be pure…they are the same…I am sure, with those of the great body of the American people.”
The ultimate American, Thomas Jefferson, in the second hour of The Connection.
(Hosted by Christopher Lydon)
Guests:
Clay Jenkinson, Jefferson impersonator.