A Declaration Abstention w/ John Dickerson (Revolutionary Rerun)

A Declaration Abstention w/ John Dickerson (Revolutionary Rerun)

July 21, 2026 · 14 min

About this episode

The episode discusses John Dickinson's role in the Continental Congress and his abstention from signing the Declaration of Independence.

As we take a mid-summer-post-4th-of-July break, we are bringing you some of our favorite episodes from the archives about the Revolutionary era. We'll be back with new "50 Weeks That Shaped America" episodes soon! Today, the story of John Dickinson, who attended the Continental Congress, was witness to the drafting of the Declaration of Independence, but abstained from voting for or signing the document. Jody Avirgan and Nicole Hemmer are joined by John Dickerson, formerly of CBS and author of “The Hardest Job In The Room.” Join our America250 newsletter community ! Subscribe for free to get the latest news and analysis of how America250 is playing out. Paying subscribers get access to early, ad-free versions of the show. Plus bonus features throughout the year. To support our work and get access to everything, subscribe now . This Day is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX. Your support helps foster independent, artist-owned podcasts and award-winning stories. If you want to support the show directly, you can do so on our website: ThisDayPod.com Get in touch if you have any ideas for future topics, or just want to say hello. Follow us on social @thisdaypod Our team: Jacob…

People in this episode

Hosts: Jody Avirgan, Nicole Hemmer

Guest: John Dickerson

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: CBS, Radiotopia, PRX

Books & works: The Hardest Job In The Room

Places: America250

More episodes of This Day (An America 250 History Show)

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the This Day (An America 250 History Show) podcast page.