Clay Jenkinson

Clay Jenkinson is a humanities scholar, author, and social commentator, devoting most of his career to public humanities programs. As one of the nation’s leading interpreters of Thomas Jefferson and other historical figures, Jenkinson has performed before Supreme Court justices, presidents, eighteen state legislatures, and countless public, corporate and student audiences as well as appearing on "The Today Show," "Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher," "The Colbert Report" and CNN. He has dedicated the better part of his life to researching the historical characters that he portrays and to bringing back and defining the “living theatre” of Chautauqua, which also emphasizes education with audience participation to enhance the learning and entertainment experience.

Jenkinson is the recipient of one of the first five Charles Frankel Prizes, the National Endowment for the Humanities’ highest award (now called the National Humanities Medal), from President George H. Bush. He serves as editor-at-large of Governing.com and hosts Listening to America radio show and podcast. He also leads humanities-based group tours to historic locales such as the Lewis & Clark trail in Montana and Idaho, John Steinbeck’s California, and Jefferson’s France. He lives and writes in Bismarck, North Dakota.

Jenkinson’s books include "The Language of Cottonwoods: Essays on North Dakota" (2021); "Repairing Jefferson’s America" (2020); "Donald Trump and the Death of American Integrity" (2020); "Bring Out Your Dead: The Literature and History of Epidemics" (2020); "Theodore Roosevelt: Naturalist in the Arena," co-authored with Char Miller (2020); "For the Love of North Dakota and Other Essays: Sundays with Clay in the Bismarck Tribune" (2012); "A Free and Hardy Life: Theodore Roosevelt’s Sojourn in the West" (2011); "The Character of Meriwether Lewis: Explorer in the Wilderness" (2011); "Theodore Roosevelt in the Dakota Badlands" (2006); "Becoming Jefferson's People: Reinventing the American Republic in the Twenty-First Century" (2005); and "Message on the Wind: A Spiritual Odyssey on the Northern Plains" (2002).