Between Jon Meacham and Jay Leno, ASU has been rubbing elbows with some top-notch visitors lately.
On Tuesday, the Jonathan and Maxine Marshall Distinguished Lecture Series welcomed Newsweek editor Jon Meacham to ASU.
After having dinner with the Marshalls, Meacham spoke at Gammage Auditorium.
The title of his lecture was "American Gospel," after his newly released book "American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation." The book was published in April by Random House, and is a New York Times and Washington Post best-seller.
His talk reviewed the ideas in his writing. He explored the thoughts of the Founding Fathers concerning faith and discussed religious liberty.
According to Meacham, "Religious liberty is the key. [It] is what we are after, not tolerance."
Meacham, who became editor of Newsweek earlier this month, was previously managing editor, a title he earned in November 1998 at the age of 29.
He began writing about religion for his magazine after Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" hit theaters.
He then decided to write his latest book on religion because he "wanted to see what history could teach us about earlier moments of deep extremism."
History freshman Max McCauley said, "I specifically liked how he used insight from the greatest minds in American history to prove his point."
The Marshall Fund of Arizona provides for one free lecture every fall, hoping that students and others in the community will show interest.
Jonathan and Maxine Marshall are both ASU alumni. Their goal in providing funds toward lectures is to champion causes that they care about. These include culture and the arts, the environment, civil liberties and world peace.
Their Distinguished Lecture Series has provided well-known speakers since 1993, including Robert Kennedy Jr. in 2002.
"[Meacham] was engaging and had me laughing throughout," McCauley said. "I'll definitely be back to see who the Marshalls bring next year."
Reach the reporter at: stephanie.naufel@asu.edu.
