Jon Meacham

Presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham is one of America's most prominent public intellectuals. A highly sought-after commentator, Meacham regularly appears on MSNBC, CNN, and other news outlets. A skilled orator with a depth of knowledge about politics, religion, and current affairs, Meacham has the unique ability to bring history to life and offer historical context to current events and issues impacting our daily lives - whether we realize it or not - to audiences of all backgrounds and levels of understanding.

He served as Newsweek's managing editor from 1998 to 2006 and as editor from 2006 to 2010.

Meacham is the author of multiple New York Times bestsellers. In 2022, he published "And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle," which won numerous awards, including the Lincoln Prize, and spent 16 weeks on the Times bestseller list. A #1 New York Times bestseller, Meacham’s "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’s "His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope" - an intimate and revealing portrait of civil rights icon and longtime U.S. congressman John Lewis—quickly gained bestseller status.

Meacham's Presidential biography of George H. W. Bush, "Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush," debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestsellers list. According to the Times, “Destiny and Power reflect the qualities of both subject and biographer: judicious, balanced, deliberative, with a deep appreciation of history and the personalities who shape it.” He is a co-author of "Impeachment: An American History," which reveals the complicated motives behind the three impeachments in U.S. history. A #1 New York Times bestseller, "Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power" was hailed as "masterful and intimate" by Fortune magazine. Meacham's other national bestsellers include "Franklin and Winston," "American Gospel," and "American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House," which won a Pulitzer Prize.

Meacham released two podcasts with the History Channel: "Hope Through History" and "It Was Said." Narrated and written by Meacham, season two of the critically acclaimed "Hope Through History" podcast explores some of the most historic and trying times in American History, how the nation dealt with the impact of these moments, and how we came through these moments a more unified nation. "It Was Said," tells the stories of those crucial words, taking listeners back to inflection points ranging from the McCarthy era to our present time through the real-time rhetoric that shaped and suffused America as the country struggled through storm and strife. "It Was Said" captures the nation we've been, and points ahead to the nation we hope to become.

Meacham is a frequent guest on "Morning Joe"; "Real Time with Bill Maher"; "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."

Named a “Global Leader for Tomorrow” by the World Economic Forum, he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a fellow of the Society of American Historians. Meacham is a distinguished visiting professor at Vanderbilt University where he holds the Rogers Chair in the American Presidency. In 2024 he was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Biden and was honored as a Library Lion of the New York Public Library.

His latest book, “The Call to Serve,” honors the 100th anniversary of George H.W. Bush’s birth and is an illuminating portrait of a man who was more than his politics.