President sheila bair, adam goodhart. And the board of visitors and governors of Washington College. [applause] and the cofounders and cochairs Richard Gilder and lewis , lehrman. And all the trustees of the institute. [applause] founded in 2005, the 50,000 George Washington prize is sponsored by our three organizations and is awarded each year to the best work about the founding era. This is the first time the washington prize has ever been awarded to a play. [applause] i would add that no one in this room, no one anywhere, would be surprised that tonight it will be presented to Linmanuel Miranda for his astonishing hamilton. [applause] from mr. Miranda a bit later. I want to recognize our first, distinguished guests and special friends. Among them the former premier of , bermuda, Pamela Gordon banks. Former u. S. Senator bill bradley. [applause] the former u. S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic and ambassador to france Greg Stapleton and debbie stapleton. [applause] have the former u
The play. This is about an hour and 15 minutes. Good evening. Thank you. My name is jim basker. [ applause ] it is my pleasure and privilege to welcome you all to the 1211th presentation of the George Washington prize on behalf of the three cohosts of tonights decent. The first, regent Barbara Lucas the vice regents of George Washington mt. Vernon, also president sheila bair, Adam Goodhart and the board of Washington College. [ applause ] and the cofounders and cochairs and all the trustees of the institute. [ applause ] founded in 2005, the 50,000 George Washington prize is sponsored by our three organizations and is awarded each year to the best work about the founding era. This is the first time the washington prize has ever been warded to a play. [ applause ] and i would add no one anywhere will be surprised that tonight it will be presented to Linmanuel Miranda for his astonishing hamilton. [ applause ] we will hear from lin miranda a bit later, but first i want to recognize some
Citizenship for wealthy chinese. The real scandal is its perfectly legal. Meanwhile, once the richest country in latin america, venezuela is on the brink of collapse or civil war. How did this happen . Well tell you. But first, heres my take. As regular viewers know, i have tried to evaluate Donald Trumps presidency fairly. Ive praised him when he has appointed competent people to high office, and he has, and expressed support for his policies when they seem serious and sensible, even though this has drawn criticism from some quarters, but there has always been another aspect to this presidency lurking beneath the surface, sometimes erupting into full view, as it did this week. Donald trump in much of his rhetoric and many of his actions poses a danger to american democracy. What makes the american system of government distinctive is not how democratic it is, but rather, the opposite. American democracy has a series of checks intended to prevent the accumulation and abuse of power by a