Jon Meacham
Presidential Historian and Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author
Event Date: October 5, 2026, 11:30am – 1:30pm
Event Location: International Ballroom, JW Marriott
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.
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 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 reflects the qualities of both subject and biographer: judicious, balanced, deliberative, with a deep appreciation of history and the personalities who shape it.” 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.
He served as Newsweek’s managing editor from 1998 to 2006 and as editor from 2006 to 2010.
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 and was honored as a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library.
His latest book, American Struggle: Democracy, Dissent, And The Pursuit of a More Perfect Union: An Anthology, provides an historical examination of American democracy through key speeches and documents from 1619 to present, analyzing national debates and divisions with expert commentary.
