Dolly Madison’s Hidden Power
From Civics In A Year by The Center for American Civics
June 1, 2026 · 19 min · Season 1 · Episode 224
About this episode
The episode explores Dolly Madison's significant yet often overlooked contributions to American civic culture through an interview with Dr. Lindsay Cormack.
Dolly Madison is famous for saving a portrait, but that’s the smallest part of her story. We sit down with Dr. Lindsay Cormack, political scientist and Director of the Diplomacy Lab at Stevens Institute of Technology, to look at Dolly as a builder of American civic culture and one of the most influential figures of the early republic. She didn’t hold office, she didn’t sign founding documents, and she still helped make the United States feel real, legitimate, and durable through the power of ...
People in this episode
Guest: Dr. Lindsay Cormack
Topics covered
- Dolly Madison
- American civic culture
- early republic
- political influence
- history
Keywords
- Dolly Madison
- civic culture
- political scientist
- early republic
- American history
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Stevens Institute of Technology
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