Transcript
Casey McDermott:
I m Casey McDermott, in for Laura Knoy and this is The Exchange. When is the last time you read a presidential biography that does not just focus on that particular politician s biography of their childhood or perhaps their early political career, but also includes lists of things like his pettiest acts or his frenemies. Today on The Exchange, we ll revisit the legacy of perhaps the most mythologized founding father, George Washington, with historian Alexis Coe. She challenges us to rethink not only what we think we know about our first president, but also the notion of whose stories are told and how those stories shape our idea of democracy today. Spoiler alert: A lot of that has to do with who s in power or at least who held power when those stories were being written.