West Point Historian Addresses Students

Robert M. S. McDonald, PhD, of the United States Military Academy at West Point, spoke to Sayre students in grades 8-12 on March 25 on the turbulent and enduring friendship between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.

A distinguished scholar of the American Revolution and the Early Republic, Prof. McDonald has taught at West Point since 1998. His visit provided Sayre students with a snapshot of two of the complex personalities that shaped the birth of the United States. 

A legacy of liberty

Prof. McDonald’s discussion served as a capstone to the recent history curriculum at Sayre, exploring the vitriolic political climate that defined the years between 1796 and 1808.

This year marks 200 years since July 4, 1826, the day that both Jefferson and Adams died, which occurred exactly 50 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. 

As Prof. McDonald explained, the journey of these two founding fathers from close revolutionary allies to bitter partisan rivals, and finally back to devoted correspondents, offers lessons in civility and the endurance of the American experiment.

About Professor McDonald

With degrees from the University of Virginia, the University of Oxford, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Professor McDonald is a leading voice on the Early Republic. He is the author of “Confounding Father: Thomas Jefferson’s Image in His Own Time” and has edited numerous volumes on Jefferson, George Washington, and the founding of West Point. He previously served as the United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs.