We've Been Here Before (and Made it Through): A Conversation with Jon Meacham
In an intimate and candid conversation, CEO Mike Hankin sits down with esteemed Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Jon Meacham to draw historical parallels with the current crisis, and discuss lessons we can take from past leaders about navigating challenging times.
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Episode Introduction
Michael Hankin: Welcome. Perhaps the word I’ve heard most often during the coronavirus pandemic is “unprecedented." The pandemic itself. The measures taken around the world to contain it. The disruption to our way of life, to our economy and the challenges of getting back to work. These are unprecedented times. But, as more is written about the pandemic, more parallels to other times in history are being made. We know there’s a lot to learn from the past, and that can help us move forward. I’m Mike Hankin, CEO of Brown Advisory. We are joined today by Jon Meacham, historian, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and, perhaps best known as someone who is extremely helpful at putting things in perspective. Jon joined us for our NOW 2018 conference in Washington, D.C. It was just before the release of his book, Soul of America: The Battle for our Better Angels. We may still be looking for them. Jon gave us a thoughtful window into when America has faced challenging times before, and his insight helped us to understand how we got through them.
Guest
Jon Meacham
Historian and Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author
Jon Meacham is one of Americas most prominent public intellectuals. A contributor to TIME and The New York Times Book Review, Meacham is a highly sought-after commentator, regularly appearing on CNN and MSNBC. Known as a skilled orator with a depth of knowledge about politics, religion, and current affairs, Meacham brings historical context to the issues and events impacting our daily lives. His latest #1 New York Times best-seller, The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels, examines the present moment in American politics and life by looking back at critical times in U.S. history when hope overcame division and fear. Meacham is a co-author of the recently released book Impeachment: An American History, which reveals the complicated motives behind the three impeachments in U.S. history. Meacham’s presidential biography, Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush, debuted at #1 on the New York Times' best-sellers list. The New York Times said, “Destiny and Power reflects the qualities of both subject and biographer: judicious, balanced, deliberative, with a deep appreciation of history and the personalities who shape it.” Meacham delivered eulogies for both President George H.W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush. Meacham's #1 New York Times best-seller, Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, was hailed as "masterful and intimate" by Fortune magazine. His other national bestsellers include Franklin and Winston, American Gospel, and American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2009. A contributing editor at TIME, Meacham writes for the magazine’s Ideas section. He also pens “The Long View” column in The New York Times Book Review, in which he “looks back at books that speak to our current historical and cultural moment.” He served as Newsweek's managing editor from 1998 to 2006 and editor from 2006 to 2010. The New York Times called him “one of the most influential editors in the news magazine business.” Meacham is a frequent guest on Morning Joe, Real Time with Bill Maher and The 11th Hour, and was featured in Ken Burns’ documentary series The Roosevelts: An Intimate History. Fox News produced an hour long special about Meacham’s Destiny and Power in November 2015. Named a “Global Leader for Tomorrow” by the World Economic Forum, he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a fellow of the Society of American Historians and chairs the National Advisory Board of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University. Meacham is a distinguished visiting professor of history at The University of the South and a visiting distinguished professor at Vanderbilt. He is currently at work on a biography of James and Dolley Madison.
Host
Michael Hankin
President and CEO, Brown Advisory
Mike is a partner, a member of the Executive Team and serves as president and chief executive officer. He is a director of both Brown Advisory Incorporated and Brown Investment Advisory & Trust Company. As chair of the Baltimore Healthy Harbor Project and executive committee member of the Baltimore Waterfront Partnership and Management Authority, he has challenged the city to achieve a goal of making Baltimore’s Inner Harbor swimmable and fishable by 2020. He is a trustee of the Johns Hopkins University, trustee and vice chair of Johns Hopkins Medicine and chair of the board of managers of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab. He also serves as chair of Land Preservation Trust, is a trustee of the Center for Large Landscape Conservation, and is a director for the National Steeplechase Association and Associated Black Charities. Mike also serves on the board of directors of Stanley Black & Decker Inc. (NYSE: SWK) and on the boards of directors of three private companies, Tate Engineering Services, Inc., The Wills Group, Inc. and 1251 Capital Group, Inc. Mike earned a B.A. and M.A. from Emory University in 1979 where he graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa, and he received a J.D. from The University of Virginia School of Law in 1982.
Background Reading
- Great Leadership in a Time of Crisis, The New York Times, March 24, 2020
- We Can’t Let Coronavirus Postpone Elections, The New York Times, March 20, 2020
- Making a Southern Stand, Garden & Gun, April/May 2020
- Country Music Should Always Be Political. After All, It Always Has Been, TIME, August 15, 2019
- Franklin and Churchill: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship
- The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels
