FEATURES

TR and his big stick.
As a longtime student of President Theodore Roosevelt, historian Clay Jenkinson considers how TR might have approached current events in Iran.
American Flag & US Constitution
What is the Health of the U.S. Constitution and what can we do about it?
Picasso’s famous 1937 painting Guernica.
Why is it that the innocent are always the ones to suffer?
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Partial view of Declaration of Independence draft
As the country approaches its 250th birthday, Clay profiles the 33-year-old Thomas Jefferson, the youngest member of the Virginia delegation, as he made his way to the Second Continental Congress and his date with immortality.
A artist rendition of the signing of the United States Constitution with George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Alexander Hamilton (left to right in the foreground).
When the Founding Fathers met in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 to craft a new constitution, they worked strenuously to cage the “dogs of war” by way of constitutional restraints.
A fresco by artist Cesare Maccari (1840-1919) depicting Roman Consul Cicero (63 BCE) denouncing Catiline's conspiracy to overthrow the Republic in the Roman senate.
America’s Founding Fathers drew heavily on the last years of the Roman Republic in crafting our nation’s founding documents, foreseeing both the promise and the frailties of a Republic. 
Route 66 road sign

An Age of Disillusionment

What Is our American Story as the Nation’s 250th Birthday Approaches?
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buffalos on the plains
Clay reflects on a recent announcement from the U.S. Department of the Interior to revoke bison grazing leases from American Prairie, an organization that has long been working to establish a buffalo wildlife reservation in Northern Montana.
Ai image of Clay behind the wheel of the Caddy with the late Senator Alan Simpson in the middle and author Jack Kerouac riding shotgun.
I nearly ran out of gas yesterday on a remote highway in the Bitterroot Mountains. It was a winding, narrow road with no shoulder to pull off onto ... but more of this crisis later in the story.
Clay Jenkinson at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. (Photo by Nolan Johnson)

My Year in Review

Last week, I reviewed the year 2025 by way of Time magazine’s Year in Review issue. Today I want to review my year as the traveling editor of Listening to America.