My year working for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in Virginia gave me a great appreciation for the history of the United States and the people who founded our nation.
My first hero is George Washington. After studying Washington: The Indispensable Man by James Flexner, I feel he was a fine man and our greatest president–”first in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen.”
Joseph Ellis wrote about Thomas Jefferson in American Sphinx. This cool, elegant man, with his flowing pen and hidden fires, never fails to fascinate me.
I love Alexander Hamilton. His incurable romanticism got him into trouble many times, but he built an enduring legacy by creating our American banking system and the modern corporation.
In my zeal for these three titans, I had completely overlooked John Adams. Now with the HBO miniseries and the book by David McCullough, I’ve added him to my list. I hadn’t realized how very much he did to further the cause of American independence.
That’s what visiting Williamsburg, Virginia, does. It brought history to life and made me proud to be an American.
