P&P Salon: A Stress Test for Democracy

Author Jamie Stiehm witnessed the January 6th insurrection in the Capitol. Huddled under siege, she heard the mob’s jeers, glass breaking on marble floors and shots fired by the House chamber door.

Her new column collection, The War Within, discusses the stress tests for American democracy since 2021. Our divided times echo the 1850s, a march of skirmishes and scars leading to the Civil War.

Not even in the Civil War had such a surreal scene taken place. Thousands waged war on the Capitol citadel, incited by the president. Donald Trump’s arc of “American carnage” landed on Congress and the constitution. Democracy won that day, but not by much.

Stiehm will be in conversation with best-selling author and journalist David Maraniss about the violent journey of January 6th, as it was lived. They will discuss her book of rough drafts of history in real time as events unfolded: Trump’s impeachment trial; Speaker Pelosi’s saving grace; the covid pandemic; and the Supreme Court ruling against reproductive rights.

A complimentary beverage (glass of wine, beer, or coffee) is included with the event price.

Please contact [email protected] for any questions or refunds.

Jamie Stiehm is a Washington columnist for Creators Syndicate. She worked as a reporter for the Baltimore Sun for a decade. Early in her journalism career, she started at CBS News-London as an assignment editor and later wrote for The Hill newspaper covering Congress. She is a frequent public speaker on American history and author of a play on Aaron Burr, Across the River, presented at the central Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library in October 2023.

David Maraniss is a New York Times best-selling author, fellow of the Society of American Historians, and visiting distinguished professor at Vanderbilt University. He has been affiliated with the Washington Post for more than forty years as an editor and writer, and twice won Pulitzer Prizes at the newspaper. In 1993 he received the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for his coverage of Bill Clinton, and in 2007 he was part of a team that won a Pulitzer for coverage of the Virginia Tech shooting.

Host or Publisher Politics and Prose