john mitchum author soul of america

2016: The Sandra Day OConnor Institute's Spirit of Democracy Award. Soul. Still, Hamiltons enthusiasm had its limits. Privacy Policy. We should look forward. It was generally assumed that General Washington, a man with Cincinnatus-like standing who had voluntarily surrendered military power at the close of the Revolutionary War, would be the first to hold the post. While interested in providing a usable history with lessons for the present, he tries to judge the past on its own terms, resisting the easy moralizing that smugly elevates the right-thinking living above the thoroughly unenlightened dead. In 2014 Meacham appeared in Ken Burns' documentary series The Roosevelts: An Intimate History on PBS. We were then, and are now, what Jackson called one great family.. Mitchum, who. The Soul of America #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham helps us understand the present moment in American politics and life by looking back at critical times in our history when hope overcame division and fear. Please try again later. is Jon Meachams declaration of his faith in America. (, Meacham gives readers a long-term perspective on American history and a reason to believe the soul of America is ultimately one of kindness and caring, not rancor and paranoia. (, Switch between reading the Kindle book & listening to the Audible narration with, Get the Audible audiobook for the reduced price of $7.49 after you. In 1776s Common Sense, Thomas Paine had suggested the title of President for the leader of a future American government. Random House. Craig Shirley is a Reagan biographer and presidential historian. Meacham believes the nation will move beyond Trump because, in the end, as they have shown on vital issues before, Americans embrace their better angels. That person added, however, that Mr. Meacham would be welcomed back on the airwaves as a guest. In his biography of Jefferson, Meacham identifies qualities that would be helpful in the current political arena, "Jefferson repeatedly reached out to his enemies and showed ideological flexibility." My Account My Purchases Advanced Search Browse Collections Rare Books Art & Collectibles Textbooks Sellers Start Selling Help Close. 6,352 (45%) More reviews and ratings Join the discussion quotes discussions questions Eight days later, in a subsequent Federalist essay, he observed, The history of human conduct does not warrant that exalted opinion of human virtue which would make it wise in a nation to commit interests of so delicate and momentous a kind, as those which concern its intercourse with the rest of the world, to the sole disposal of. John Mitchum wrote Them Ornery Mitchum Boys, which can be purchased at a lower price at ThriftBooks.com. Author and historian Jon Meacham discusses his book 'The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels. It is a public philosophy akin to what Schlesinger described as the politics of the vital center, devoted to egalitarian reform but disbelieving in human perfection, fierce in its advocacy but humble in the face of human folly. The author does a tremendous job of articulating what make has made many of our leaders great, normally by conduct and if by words, it is due to his follow through with actions.The leader is however elected, and here in these United States who he or she may be is a reflection upon those who are lead. | ISBN 9780399589836 Meacham has also been awarded honorary doctorates from several universities: As of 2014[update], Meacham resides in Belle Meade, Tennessee. Yet they were willing to live with ambiguity. Specifically, there is virtually nothing about how the well-documented right-wing radicalization of the Republican Party paved the way for Donald Trump from Richard Nixons Southern strategy to Ronald Reagans dog-whistle appeals to states rights racism, to Newt Gingrichs systematic smear tactics and the devolution of the G.O.P. He writes about the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the birth of the Lost Cause; the backlash against immigrants in the First World War and the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s; the fight for womens rights; the demagoguery of Huey Long and Father Coughlin and the isolationist work of America First in the years before World War II; the anti-Communist witch-hunts led by Senator Joseph McCarthy; and Lyndon Johnsons crusade against Jim Crow. Painting surprising portraits of Lincoln and other presidents, including Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, and Lyndon B. Johnson, and illuminating the courage of such influential citizen activists as Martin Luther King, Jr., early suffragettes Alice Paul and Carrie Chapman Catt, civil rights pioneers Rosa Parks and John Lewis, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and Army-McCarthy hearings lawyer Joseph N. Welch, Meacham brings vividly to life turning points in American history. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 7, 2021. From the start Americans recognized the elasticity of the presidencyand hoped for the best. Want to know what people are actually reading right now? . And a good one at that. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham joins TODAY to discuss his new documentary on HBO "The Soul of America," based on his 2018 book of the same name. . $30. Soundtracks. I knew that a President can appeal to the best in our people or the worst; he can call for action or live with inaction., The possibilities of a powerful president informed several of Hamiltons contributions to The Federalist, his joint effort, with Madison and John Jay, to support the ratification of the Constitution. Moderation enough has been shown; it is time to assume a different tone, Hamilton argued. The writer shows with depressing clarity that history does repeat itself. He gave eulogies for both President Bush and Barbara Bush when they died in 2018. into what the political scientists Norman J. Ornstein and Thomas E. Mann have called an insurgent outlier ideologically extreme. Perhaps Meacham understands the last half century of American politics differently, which would be interesting to consider. Among these is an unspoken commerce involving the most ancient of institutions, a powerful chief, and the more modern of realities, a free, disputatious populace. If you were a white man and willing to work, you stood a chance of transcending the circumstances of your father and his fathers father and of joining the great company of enterprising and self-made men, as Henry Clay put it in 1832. Buy, May 08, 2018 Although defeated in 1865, this dark strain was never destroyed; indeed, if the Confederacy lost the Civil War, Meacham remarks, in important ways it won the peace following the white Souths fitful overthrow of Reconstruction. It is essential to. The Hill has reached out to Meacham for comment. He received an invitation to Ronald Reagan's 1981 inauguration in Washington, D.C., in response to a letter that he sent to the president-elect. About The Soul of America #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham helps us understand the present moment in American politics and life by looking back at critical times in our history when hope overcame division and fear. Please try again later. Songs of America. He writes about the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the birth of the Lost Cause; the backlash against immigrants in the First World War and the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s; the fight for women's rights; the demagoguery of Huey Long and Father Coughlin and the isolationist work of America First in the years before World War II; the anti-Communist witch hunts led by Senator Joseph McCarthy; and Lyndon Johnsons crusade against Jim Crow. The Soul of America falls in line with other political and historical documentaries like Knock Down the House , 13th, and more, with a little more of a personal touch thrown in by the biographical . All rights reserved. THE SOUL OF AMERICA The Battle for Our Better Angels By Jon Meacham Illustrated. Under President Trump, however, they have become not just ascendant in the White House but entrenched in what was long ago Lincolns Republican Party. Distinguished visiting professor of history at, This page was last edited on 11 April 2023, at 18:22. Although these antidemocratic impulses have sometimes infected conventional partisan politics, for the most part national parties and politicians have kept them at bay. Buy, May 08, 2018 At a time when liberalism is besieged by populisms of both the right and the left, these portions of Meachams book offer a strong if unfashionable reminder of all that progressive American government has achieved. Appalled by the ascendancy of Donald J. Trump, and shaken by the deadly white nationalist rallies in Charlottesville in 2017, Meacham returns to other moments in our history when fear and division seemed rampant. He endorsed Joe Biden, saying, "history, which will surely be our judge, can also be our guide. . Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham helps us understand the present moment in American politics and life by looking back at critical times in our history when hope overcame division and fear. (The delegates did provide that the president had to be a natural-born citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, suggesting that there has always been a wariness of foreign influence and of the foreign-born.) Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. He won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography for American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House. But Meacham quickly adds that Americas survival has never been automatic. With compelling narratives of past eras of strife and disenchantment, Meacham offers wisdom for our own time.Walter Isaacson Gripping and inspiring, The Soul of America is Jon Meachams declaration of his faith in America.NewsdayMeacham gives readers a long-term perspective on American history and a reason to believe the soul of America is ultimately one of kindness and caring, not rancor and paranoia.USA Today, Jon Meachamis a Pulitzer Prizewinning biographer. We may be afraid, says Jon Meacham, but we should not be. There was a problem loading your book clubs. insurgent outlier ideologically extreme. john mitchum author soul of america. To better understand what it meant, Meacham's book looks back at critical times in our nation's history when presidents and citizens came together to overcome forces of anger, intolerance, and extremism. . . [4], Meacham has explored America's leaders in such works as Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power as well as his biography of Andrew Jackson, American Lion, which won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography. 8 May 2018. By clicking Sign Up, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Penguin Random House's Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and understand that Penguin Random House collects certain categories of personal information for the purposes listed in that policy, discloses, sells, or shares certain personal information and retains personal information in accordance with the policy. Ill tell you, friend, he reigns above, and doth not make havoc of mankind like the royal brute of Great Britain. For adherents as he observes of the original racist neo-Confederates during Reconstruction the rejection of federal rule was a holy cause.. Brilliant, fascinating, timely . To record history doesnt mean you are removed from it, Mr. Meacham said over the summer, noting he had been friends with Mr. Biden for a long time. A former executive editor and executive vice president at Random House, he is a contributing writer to The New York Times Book Review, a contributing editor to Time magazine, and a former editor-in-chief of Newsweek. In the face of violence, literal civil war, humiliation, we come out on top. . Character actor, poet and songwriter. We are experiencing technical difficulties. Excerpted fromThe Soul of Americaby Jon Meacham. That is America, always striving upward, surviving. The well-disposed part of the community will begin to think the Executive wanting in decision and vigor., Washington agreed, writing, Whereas it is the particular duty of the Executive to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. In The Soul of America, Pulitzer Prizewinning author Jon Meacham helps us understand the present moment in American politics and life by looking back at critical times in our history when hope overcame division and fear. For as in absolute governments the king is law, so in free countries the law ought to be king, and there ought to be no other., The tension between the widespread Paine view (that central authority was dangerous) and the practical experience of the Revolutionary War and the Confederation period (that a weak national government was even more dangerous) shaped the thoughts and actions of the delegates who gathered in the Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall, in May 1787. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR The Christian Science Monitor Southern Living. BOOK REVIEW: 'The Soul of America' by Jon Meacham Commentary By Craig Shirley and Scott Mauer - - Sunday, May 20, 2018 OPINION: THE SOUL OF AMERICA: THE BATTLE FOR OUR BETTER ANGELS By Jon. [8][6][b] In 2006, he became editor-in-chief of Newsweek's print and online formats. Lincoln's words failed to prevent civil war, but they serve as a template for the latest book from Pulitzer Prize winner . Click above for unlimited listening to select audiobooks, Audible Originals, and podcasts. There were competing schools of thought. Painting surprising portraits of Lincoln and other presidents, including Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, and Lyndon B. Johnson, and illuminating the courage of such influential citizen activists as Martin Luther King Jr., early suffragettes Alice Paul and Carrie Chapman Catt, civil rights pioneers Rosa Parks and John Lewis, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and Army-McCarthy hearings lawyer Joseph N. Welch, Meacham brings vividly to life turning points in American history. the security of liberty against the enterprises and assaults of ambition, of faction, and of anarchy.. The endless search for better angels. He writes about the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the birth of the Lost Cause; the backlash against immigrants in the First World War and the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s; the fight for womens rights; the demagoguery of Huey Long and Father Coughlin and the isolationist work of America First in the years before World War II; the anti-Communist witch-hunts led by Senator Joseph McCarthy; and Lyndon Johnsons crusade against Jim Crow. As a citizen of the United States in the first couple of decades of the 21st century, its awfully tempting to look around at the political environment and think How can things possibly be worse? When Donald Trump became the 45th president, author Jon Meacham probably decided to take a deep breath, not panic, and remind the citizens that although this seems like a preposterous joke, our country has been through this sort of nightmare before, and good has always prevailed at the end of whatever seamless catastrophe the nation seems to be facing. Amazon.com: John Mitchum: Books 1-16 of 26 results RESULTS Them Ornery Mitchum Boys by John Mitchum | Jan 1, 1988 7 Paperback Hardcover Mass Market Paperback The Ultimate Dog Training Handbook: A Simple And Fun Guide To Training You Best Friend by John Mitchum | Nov 17, 2020 4 Paperback $515$6.99 Indeed, Mr. Meacham appeared on MSNBC both shortly before and after Mr. Bidens speech. He is also a frequent guest on CBS This Morning, Face the Nation, MSNBC's Morning Joe, and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.[17][18]. Meacham tries to summon the better angels by looking back at when America truly has been great. the permanent interests and happiness of the people require that every legal and necessary step should be pursued to avoid violent and unwarrantable proceedings., Within two decades, Thomas Jefferson, after serving in the highest office himself for eight years, came to share something of Washingtons understanding of the presidency. He also appeared in a cameo in the 2018 film The Front Runner. To do better than yesterday, to do better than today. You can opt-out of the sale or sharing of personal information anytime. The soul that he speaks of, he says, is what makes us us.. Meachamgives readers a long-term perspective on American history and a reason to believe the soul of America is ultimately one of kindness and caring, not rancor and paranoia. In this inspiring book, Meacham reassures us, The good news is that we have come through such darkness beforeas, time and again, Lincolns better angels have found a way to prevail. 0 share; SHARE ON TWITTER; Share on Facebook Help us improve our Author Pages by updating your bibliography and submitting a new or current image and biography. Sign up for news about books, authors, and more from Penguin Random House, Visit other sites in the Penguin Random House Network. As the first of everything, in our situation will serve to establish a Precedent, he wrote Madison, it is devoutly wished on my part, that these precedents may be fixed on true principles. As Thomas Jefferson, the first secretary of state, recalled it, Hamilton once said that the President was the center on which all administrative questions ultimately rested, and that all of us should rally around him, and support with joint efforts measures approved by him. In 1792, when farmers in western Pennsylvania were gathering forces to rebel against a federal excise tax on whiskey, Hamilton urged Washington to take a direct hand. 2023 Jon Meacham. A journalist and presidential biographer who won a Pulitzer for his life of Andrew Jackson, he has seen how American politics works close up, as most academic historians have not, yet he has remained uncynical. And go from well-read to best read with book recs, deals and more in your inbox every week. The network declined to comment on Monday, but Mr. Meacham will no longer be a paid contributor going forward, according to a person familiar with the decision. During the Trump years, Mr. Meacham has been a regular presence on both MSNBC and NBC News broadcasts, where he served as a paid contributor. In 1619, a Dutch man of warre brought about twenty captive Africansnegarsto Virginia, the first chapter in the saga of American slavery. This book did its job and gave Joe Biden the theme for his 2020 winning campaign. Biden spokesman TJ Ducklo told the Times that Biden consulted a number of people on the speech. What America looks for in a president. [4] In 1995, he worked for Newsweek as the national affairs editor, and became managing editor in late-1998. An enemy of the Second Bank of the United States, Jackson would have given his life to preserve the central government. "Always take all the time to reflect that circumstances permit, but when the time for action has come, stop thinking. John Mitchum. It is inspiring when the President rises above the common. (Courtesy Heidi Ross) Meacham, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for his biography of Andrew Jackson, dives deeply into America's proud and not-so-proud past in "The Soul of . Near the end of Donald Trumps first year in power, for instance, The New York Times reported that, before taking office, he had told top aides to think of each presidential day as an episode in a television show in which he vanquishes rivals., This Hobbesian view of the presidencythat every single day is a war of all against allis novel and out of sync with much of the presidential past. Ambivalent about executive authority, many of the framers were nevertheless anxious to rescue the tottering American nation. Jon Meacham is the latest writer to cite Lincolns plea, which helps suggest why his new book, The Soul of America, is at once so engaging and troubling. His Truth Is Marching On. this year. Buy, May 22, 2018 At 272 pages the book is not overly long, and reads exceedingly well. A champion of even the poorest of whites, Jackson was an unrepentant slaveholder. The Vietnam War, the explosion of white backlash and ghetto violence, and the fitful collapse of the New Deal coalition receive extremely short shrift. Destiny and Power. Meacham has no sympathy for the way Trump governs, and the purpose of his book is to remind Americans - and others - that they have come through bad times before. Our current climate of partisan fury is not new, and in The Soul of America Meacham shows us how what Abraham Lincoln called the "better angels of our nature" have repeatedly won the day. Ninety-eight of them are about carrying religion to such People, as yet live in Darkness and miserable Ignorance of the true Knowledge and Worship of God; the other 3,707 words in the charter concern the taking of all the Lands, Woods, Soil, Grounds, Havens, Ports, Rivers, Mines, Minerals, Marshes, Waters, Fishings, Commodities, as well as orders to dig, mine, and search for all Manner of Mines of Gold, Silver, and Copper., Explorers in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries sought riches; religious dissenters came seeking freedom of worship. Absolutely, Mr. Meacham responded, without disclosing that he been involved in the writing of Mr. Bidens speech. A self-made man who had risen to the highest levels of a slaveholding society, he wanted to open the doors of opportunity for men like him. . A Battle for the Soul of America? [20] Meacham is also the co-chair of the Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy at Vanderbilt University. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 25, 2021. [1] His parents are Jere Ellis Meacham (19462008), a construction and labor-relations executive who was decorated for valor during the Vietnam War,[2] and Linda (McBrayer) Brodie. You will get an email reminder before your trial ends. . Here are some top contenders, White House says Russian casualties stunning, First Republic Bank collapse spurs fears for banking system, broader economy, Supreme Court to consider overruling Chevron doctrine, Tucker Carlson, on leaked video, derides Fox streaming service, Al Franken blasts Supreme Court: Its illegitimate. a President of the United States. The Founders saw, then, that the executive office would require check and balance. Each of these dramatic hours in our national life have been shaped by the contest to lead the country to look forward rather than back, to assert hope over fear - a struggle that continues even now. Jon Meacham, American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House. Meacham is a presidential historian, Pulitzer Prize recipient, the former editor-in-chief of Newsweek, and was reportedly tapped to help write Biden's speeches, including his Democratic National. 'May 7, 2018. his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. Our current climate of partisan fury is not new, and in The Soul of America Meacham shows us how what Abraham Lincoln called the better angels of our nature have repeatedly won the day. Painting surprising portraits of Lincoln and other presidents, including Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, and Lyndon B. Johnson, and illuminating the courage of such influential citizen activists as Martin Luther King, Jr., early suffragettes Alice Paul and Carrie Chapman Catt, civil rights pioneers Rosa Parks and John Lewis, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and Army-McCarthy hearings lawyer Joseph N. Welch, Meacham brings vividly to life turning points in American history. [Meacham] is an adroit and appealing storyteller.The New York Times Book Review Gripping and inspiring, The Soul of America is Jon Meachams declaration of his faith in America. | 656 Minutes . Grid View Tile View. Historian Jon Meacham has written several recent speeches for president-elect Joe Biden, including his Saturday victory speech after he was projected as the winner of the presidential election. . Its as Old as America, One Historian Notes, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/21/books/review/jon-meacham-soul-of-america.html, A mural depicting Frederick Douglass petitioning President Lincoln to enlist African-Americans in the Union Army. He employs all of those skills in The Soul of America, a thoroughly researched and smoothly written roundup of some of the worst parts of American history and how they were gradually overcome. Its a warning from history and an inspiration for now. If such a position were created, Jon Meacham would be an excellent choice. Can one imagine if a historian had been at President George W. Bushs side, rather than George Tenets, telling the president that Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, the British and later the Soviets could not invade and hold or control Afghanistan? To hear such voices is to be reminded of what we have lost, but also what can one day be recaptured. The United States has a problem. This is where youll see your current point status and your earned rewards. Them Ornery Mitchum Boys. McConnell insists hes sitting out debt talks to disbelief. We hope for many more people like him, whose views agree or not with them are more than just tweets and twaddles with barely a thought. Spoken Word. | ISBN 9780399589812 In the beginning, at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, the presidency was a work in progress. Even when the drafting was done, the precise nature of the presidencyof its powers and relative role in guiding the nationwas an open mystery to the framers. . Meacham ends the book with an invocation to American readers to re-engage with the political process in whatever way they can, an undeniably important invocation. Lincoln wanted to change its very nature: It was not about territory or spoils, Mr. Meacham writes. He wanted to record Mitchum's patriotic poems and did. When the second Ku Klux Klan arose in the 1920s, President Warren G. Harding, in a speech in Birmingham, Ala., bravely and pointedly (if less than ardently) defended blacks civil rights. By clicking SIGN UP,I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Penguin Random Houses, certain categories of personal information, discloses, sells, or shares certain personal information. We are experiencing technical difficulties. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham helps us understand the present moment in American politics and life by looking back at critical times in our history when hope overcame division and fear. Just for joining youll get personalized recommendations on your dashboard daily and features only for members. Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them. ONE OF OPRAH'S "BOOKS THAT HELP ME THROUGH" NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR The Christian Science Monitor . Try again. . Affiliate Program Disclosure. As did basic facts of geography. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. For many, birth mattered less than it ever had before. Copyright 2018 by Jon Meacham. The era of suffrage triumph was also the age of segregation, of the suppression of free speech in wartime, of the Red Scare of 1919-20, and of the birth of a new Ku Klux Klan., He continues, hammering it home. Updike, 60 years old and a smoker, jogs away in a blue t-shirt decorated with an upside-down question mark. Named one of the best books of the year by NPR, the Christian Science Monitor, and Southern Living. There are some small quibbles with The Soul of America, but far too tiny to dwell upon. Jon Meacham is a Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer.The author of the New York Times bestsellers Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House, Franklin and Winston, Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush, and The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels, he is a distinguished visiting professor at Vanderbilt . We have devolved into a mostly anti-intellectual country, instead now run by showmen and politicians and talking heads and hucksters who would rather look and talk of themselves on TV or Facebook or look into a camera than talk of freedom, liberty, wisdom, philosophy. Hes provided a great way to do it.USA TodayThis is a brilliant, fascinating, timely, and above all profoundly important book. His successor, Calvin Coolidge, called the guarantee of equal rights for blacks a constitutional imperative that was fundamental to the traditions and the principles of the Republican Party. Thirty years later, Senator Joseph R. McCarthys fate was sealed when Senate Republicans, including Ralph Flanders and Prescott Bush, denounced him. It is an easy and uplifting read, and provides a useful overview of America's struggles with its internal divisions during its lifetime, notably the racial one. ONE OF OPRAHS BOOKS THAT HELP ME THROUGH NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR The Christian Science Monitor Southern Living Our current climate of partisan fury is not new, and in The Soul of America Meacham shows us how what Abraham Lincoln called the better angels of our nature have repeatedly won the day. But these fail to convey the profound depth of the crisis. The Soul of America, a new documentary based on the best-selling book by John Meacham, premieres October 27 at 9P on HBO Max. Governed by the weak Articles of Confederationnational power was diffuse to nonexistentthe country, George Washington wrote in November 1786, was fast verging to anarchy & confusion! The Constitutional Convention, which ran from May to September of 1787, was focused on bringing stability to the unruly world of competing state governments and an ineffectual national Congress.