The Hero Returns: Lafayette and the Legacy of the Revolution

Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette, better known as the Marquis de Lafayette, was a seminal figure in the American Revolution, renowned for his leadership of Continental troops in the decisive siege of Yorktown in 1781. Nearly half a century later, in 1824, Lafayette returned to the country he had helped engender for a fourteen-month trip across the twenty-four existing states. In this conversation, Richard Brookhiser, in conversation with Laura Auricchio, explores Lafayette’s impressions of the evolving nation, including its challenges and achievements, as well as the extent to which it was living up to the ideals of liberty and democracy for which he had fought—a question that remains unanswered two hundred years later, in another era of turbulence and progress. 

Featuring: Richard Brookhiser, Laura Auricchio (moderator)