The World in Time

Gordon S. Wood

Friday, December 08, 2017

Slumbering Fog

Slumbering Fog, by Elliott Daingerfield, c. 1903. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of George A. Hearn, 1906.

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1826. Reportedly Adams’ last words were “Thomas Jefferson survives”—without realizing his former vice president had predeceased him. Despite the fact that the political colleagues faced off in one of the dirtiest presidential campaigns in American history, the pair ended their lives not only at the same time but as friends who had exchanged letters for years. But their previously acrimonious relationship as leading figures of our first political parties, Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Gordon S. Wood points out in his new book, had an immense effect on the eventual shape of the United States’ political fault lines and culture.

 

Lewis H. Lapham talks with Gordon S. Wood, author of Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

 

Thanks to our generous donors. Lead support for this podcast has been provided by Elizabeth “Lisette” Prince. Additional support was provided by James J. “Jimmy” Coleman Jr.

Discussed in this episode

More Podcasts

April 30, 2021

The World in Time:

Louis Menand

Lewis H. Lapham speaks with the author of The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War. More

August 31, 2018

The World in Time:

Jim Holt

Lewis H. Lapham talks with Jim Holt, author of When Einstein Walked with Gödel: Excursions to the Edge of Thought. More

September 13, 2019

The World in Time:

Isabella Tree

Lewis H. Lapham speaks with the author of Wilding: Returning Nature to Our Farm. More

December 03, 2021

The World in Time:

Geoffrey Wheatcroft

Lewis H. Lapham speaks with the author of Churchill’s Shadow: The Life and Afterlife of Winston Churchill. More

February 17, 2023

The World in Time:

Edward Achorn

Lewis H. Lapham speaks with the author of The Lincoln Miracle: Inside the Republican Convention That Changed History. More

January 29, 2021

The World in Time:

Michael J. Sandel

Lewis H. Lapham speaks with the author of The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good? More