Sign up to win prizes and for exclusive updates about this year’s festival

April 26-28, 2024

Word of South

Jon Meacham

Presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham is one of America’s most prominent public intellectuals. With a depth of knowledge about politics, history, religion, and current affairs, Meacham has the unique ability to bring historical context to the issues and events impacting our daily lives.

The author of several #1 New York Times bestsellers, Meacham has written acclaimed books about Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, George H.W. Bush, and civil-rights icon John Lewis. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a fellow of the Society of American Historians, Meacham is a distinguished visiting professor at Vanderbilt University, where he holds the Rogers Chair in the American Presidency. His latest book, And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle, was published in the fall of 2022 and immediately hit the bestseller list. He’ll be appearing at Word of South first with the musician Yasmin Williams, and then in a Q&A session hosted by Dr. Timothy Chapin of the FSU Institute of Politics.