joanne freeman. thanks, ann. and before i begin, i actually really do want to thank the john jay papers columbia university libraries and columbia university office of the provost for inviting me here to speak this evening, and i want to thank all of you whoever you are lurking out there wherever it is you're lurking for coming this evening and joining us in this talk and conversation. i'm going to start my comments this evening by saying something that is really obvious. but i feel the need to say it and that is we live in strange and difficult times. some of that strangeness for me has been the ways in which my study of the past and my existence in this particularly problematic present have been bumping up against each other. as a political historian who writes a lot about political violence. i've spent many years trying to figure out how politicians in the past made decisions and chose courses of action in times of intense conflict and extremes. and along those lines ive been really curious about how and when

historian joanne freeman talks about violence in american politics from the earlier republic through the antebellum era examining how it compares to modern partisan conflicts. this keynote was part of the john jay papers conference hosted by columbia university and they provided the video. welcome to life and an age of conflicts and extremes the keynote address f

historian joanne freeman talks about violence in american politics from the earlier republic through the antebellum era examining how it compares to modern partisan conflicts. this keynote was part of the john jay papers conference hosted by columbia university and they provided the video. welcome to life and an age of conflicts and extremes the keynote address for the john jay papers conference. thank you so much for joining us for this discussion at a moment in our nation's history when greater understanding of the legacy of congressional violence and polarizing partisan politics is essential to enable our country to move forward in a constructive way. i'm a

joanne freeman.in most circumstances, all of you to overpower a politician. >> oh, easily so with the exception of me, all of those great minds gathered there, that gaggle of gregarious, you know, talkers. but what was interesting is that with ease and simplicity, with simple grace and high eloquence this man, the president of the united states of america, somehowed that he was humble enough to receive the input of these figures and yet great enough to engage them in a very serious and honest conversation. he didn't have to pretend he knew everything but what he knew was wide and broad. and in many cases much deeper than people have ever acknowledged. but also, it was the possibility of the curiosity and the result of that curiosity. it is to relate what i want to know to what i have to do so that practice and theory -- i call it extreme -- >> michael, did he ask for advice? >> he certainly wanted to know what we thought about particular issues and crises. i don't want to say -- i don't think the pre