In Pursuit of Happiness with Judy Woodruff
Jul 2, 2026 · 36 min · 14 segments
What can George Washington's life tell us about the country he helped found? In the first episode of her new limited-run podcast, "In Pursuit of Happiness," Judy Woodruff speaks with historian Lindsay…
Lindsay ChervinskyGuest
Judy WoodruffHost
Why is it important today, 250 years later, that we still focus as much as we do on George Washington? Yes, he was the first, but beyond that, why?
Well, so much of the world we're living in today is shaped by Washington in ways that we don't always really appreciate.
So our institutions, things like the presidency, are still largely built on norm and custom.
There isn't actually that much written about what the day-to-day shape of the presidency is supposed to be.
Most of his successors have modeled themselves on what they think his example was.
So much of the world that we are living in the institutions, things like the Constitution, they reflect Washington's participation.
But on a broader scale, we are celebrating the 250th anniversary of what it means of a republic.
And I mentioned those three things of what it means to be a republic of the rule of law, civilian control of the military and the peaceful transfer of power.
And they're an incredible inheritance to have received and for us to remember that they are things that were really hard to build and are really easy to tear down and require every generation to recommit to upholding them, including ours, so we can pass it along to the following generations.
So we remember him, and we hold on the one hand him in honor for all that he did that brought the country together, but we also remember his owning hundreds of slaves and not letting them go free, the decisions around Native Americans, indigenous people.
The story of revolutionary America is not one of just a handful of white men.
But also it is a much more useful legacy because if we're looking for perfect people to save us today, we're going to be sorely disappointed.
But instead, if we say, well, here is a deeply flawed person who still managed to do extraordinary things, maybe we can look for flawed people today that can also do extraordinary things.
Why is it important today, 250 years later, that we still focus as much as we do on George Washington? Yes, he was the first, but beyond that, why?
Well, so much of the world we're living in today is shaped by Washington in ways that we don't always really appreciate.
So our institutions, things like the presidency, are still largely built on norm and custom.
There isn't actually that much written about what the day-to-day shape of the presidency is supposed to be.
Most of his successors have modeled themselves on what they think his example was.
So much of the world that we are living in the institutions, things like the Constitution, they reflect Washington's participation.
But on a broader scale, we are celebrating the 250th anniversary of what it means of a republic.
And I mentioned those three things of what it means to be a republic of the rule of law, civilian control of the military and the peaceful transfer of power.
And they're an incredible inheritance to have received and for us to remember that they are things that were really hard to build and are really easy to tear down and require every generation to recommit to upholding them, including ours, so we can pass it along to the following generations.
So we remember him, and we hold on the one hand him in honor for all that he did that brought the country together, but we also remember his owning hundreds of slaves and not letting them go free, the decisions around Native Americans, indigenous people.
The story of revolutionary America is not one of just a handful of white men.
But also it is a much more useful legacy because if we're looking for perfect people to save us today, we're going to be sorely disappointed.
But instead, if we say, well, here is a deeply flawed person who still managed to do extraordinary things, maybe we can look for flawed people today that can also do extraordinary things.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.