Bob Crawford: America's Founding Son

From the bassist of the Grammy-nominated band the Avett Brothers, Bob Crawford presents an accessible and entertaining biography of our nation's greatest public servant and original political maverick John Quincy Adams. In conversation with Chris DeRose.

ABOUT THE LIVE EVENT

• Registration via Eventbrite is required.
• All tickets are general admission and include one (1) copy of America's Founding Son.
• Books will be distributed at the venue on event night.
• Signing will follow presentation.

ABOUT THE BOOK

During the tumultuous period between the era of the Founding Fathers and the disunion of the Civil War, John Quincy Adams was the man standing in the breach. After an unsuccessful presidential reelection campaign, he was left reckoning with his political legacy. But Adams would be dragged back into the fray in ways he never expected, pitting him against the slavocracy and Southern congressmen and solidifying him as a key ally to the antislavery cause.

America's Founding Son tells the tale of Adams's turbulent government career and his evolving views on slavery. Adams, along with lesser-known abolitionists Benjamin Lundy and Theodore Weld, found himself at the center of the coalition that leveled the first blow against slave power in the United States. The battles they fought would be foundational in the push for emancipation to follow. An entertaining deep dive into an under explored period in American history, America's Founding Son shows how John Quincy Adams and the grassroots activism of the 1830s and '40s shifted American politics forever.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bob Crawford is the bassist for the Grammy-nominated band the Avett Brothers, and creator of the iHeart Curiosity podcast series, Founding Son: John Quincy’s America and The SiriusXM Volume Channel Docuseries Concerts of Change: The Soundtrack of Human Rights. He’s also co-host of the Road to Now history podcast. However, Bob does not just play a historian—in 2020 he earned a master’s degree in history from Arizona State University. More important than his passion for music and history is his dedication to raising awareness about pediatric cancer. Bob and his wife, Melanie, are co-managing partners for The Press On Fund, an organization that seeks to find less toxic treatments for childhood cancer. Bob is periodically a speaker on behalf of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN. It’s a personal cause, as Bob’s daughter Hallie is a three-time cancer survivor.
ABOUT THE MODERATOR

Chris DeRose is the New York Times Bestselling author of The Fighting Bunch, Star Spangled Scandal, The Presidents' War, Congressman Lincoln, and Founding Rivals. Chris was formerly Senior Litigation Counsel to the Arizona Attorney General, a Professor of Constitutional Law, and Clerk of the Superior Court for Maricopa County, leading a team of over 700 professionals in serving America's fourth largest county. Like everyone else who grew up in Chicago in the 80's and 90's, he lives in Phoenix, with his wife, Dr. Hannah DeRose, their sons, Ben and Henry, and their French bulldog, Le Chien.

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