Image courtesy of Mount Vernon Estate
Mount Vernon Estate
As the country closes out the year marking 250 years of American independence, George Washington's Mount Vernon is preparing to turn the conversation from celebration to stock-taking. The estate has announced Lessons from the Founding: The 2026 George Washington Symposium, a three-day gathering Nov. 5–7 that will convene some of the nation's most prominent historians, journalists and public servants to examine the health of American democracy from the founding era to the present day.
Billed as a culminating moment in the semiquincentennial year, the symposium is framed around a forward-looking question: how to strengthen the republic for its next 250 years. Panels will trace how the founders' ideas have held up, where they have evolved, and which have grown fragile under modern pressures.
"We are thrilled to welcome the nation's leading historians, journalists, policymakers and innovative thinkers to explore how we can harness the energy of the 250th anniversary to build a stronger democracy for the next two centuries," said Lindsay Chervinsky, executive director of The George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. "Mount Vernon is the best place to revisit the nation's founding principles and center them in our civic discourse."
The program is built around nine themes linking founding principles to today's most pressing civic questions — among them civil control of the military, presidential transitions, constitutional interpretation, religious freedom, foreign policy and civics education. Rather than treating these as settled history, organizers say the panels will press participants and audiences alike to consider the founders' original intent, how each issue has changed over time, and whether it remains a vital or increasingly vulnerable part of American life.
The event opens Thursday, Nov. 5, with a black-tie gala at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, followed by two full days of programming in the Smith Theater at Mount Vernon's Ford Orientation Center. In-person tickets include all lectures, meals and receptions.
The speaker roster reaches across politics, the military, the judiciary and the press. Marquee sessions include a conversation on public service between former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and former Sen. and Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander; a panel on civil control of the military with Adm. Michelle Howard, Brig. Gen. Ty Seidule and former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, moderated by author Rick Atkinson; and a discussion of the Constitution featuring CNN's Elie Honig, law professor Kate Shaw and the American Enterprise Institute's Yuval Levin, moderated by The New York Times' Peter Baker. Friday afternoon also brings a live recording of the foreign-policy podcast Shield of the Republic with Eliot Cohen and Eric Edelman.
Saturday's slate turns to the press and the presidency, with a "Covering the Presidency" panel of Chris Whipple, Evan Thomas and The New Yorker's Susan Glasser, moderated by CBS's Robert Costa, and a religious-freedom conversation with John Fea, David French and Mona Charen, moderated by the National Constitution Center's Jeffrey Rosen. Other panels take up presidential transitions, foreign policy, service and civic virtue, and civics education.
The George Washington Symposium is supported by an endowment established by The Barra Foundation, with Stand Together serving as leadership sponsor and additional support from The Francine A. LeFrak Foundation and Don and Karen Tavolacci.
Details on the full slate of speakers and tickets are available at mountvernon.org.
If You Go
What: Lessons from the Founding: The 2026 George Washington Symposium When: Thursday–Saturday, Nov. 5–7, 2026 Where: Opening gala at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial, 101 Callahan Drive, Alexandria; panels in the Smith Theater at Mount Vernon's Ford Orientation Center, 3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway Tickets: In-person admission includes all lectures, meals and receptions; prices and any virtual/livestream options are listed online Info: mountvernon.org
Program Schedule
In-person tickets include all lectures, meals and receptions. Unless noted, all lectures take place in the Smith Theater at the Ford Orientation Center. Schedule subject to change.
Thursday, November 5
- 6 p.m. — Opening black-tie gala and program at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial
Friday, November 6
- 9 a.m. — Coffee and registration (Ford Orientation Center)
- 9:30 a.m. — George Washington's Contributions: An Introduction to the Themes of the Conference, with Lindsay Chervinsky and Douglas Bradburn
- 10:15 a.m. — A Conversation with Former Governors on Public Service, with the Hon. Mitch Daniels and the Hon. Lamar Alexander
- 11 a.m. — Coffee break and book signing
- 11:30 a.m. — Civil Control of the Military, with Adm. Michelle Howard, Brig. Gen. Ty Seidule and Leon Panetta; moderated by Rick Atkinson
- 12:15 p.m. — Book signing
- 12:30 p.m. — Lunch
- 1:30 p.m. — Principles of Foreign Policy: a live recording of Shield of the Republic, with Eliot Cohen and Eric Edelman
- 2:15 p.m. — Contested Transitions, with Frank Cogliano, Bob Crawford and Steve Inskeep; moderated by Susan Swain
- 3 p.m. — Coffee and book signing
- 3:30 p.m. — Service Culture and Civic Virtue, with Layla Zaidane; moderated by John Bridgeland
- 4:15 p.m. — Strengthening Democracy, with Melody Barnes, Judge J. Michael Luttig and John Bridgeland; moderated by Peter Wehner
- 5 p.m. — Ambassador Panel, moderated by Tom Nichols
- 5:30 p.m. — Cocktails
- 6:30 p.m. — Dinner (Ford Orientation Center)
Saturday, November 7
- 9 a.m. — The Constitution, with Elie Honig, Kate Shaw and Yuval Levin; moderated by Peter Baker
- 10:15 a.m. — The Historic Presidency, with Mark Updegrove, Lindsay Chervinsky and Karl Rove
- 11:15 a.m. — Coffee break and book signing
- 11:45 a.m. — Presidential Transitions, with Joshua Bolten and Jack Hearn Watson; moderated by Ali Vitali
- 12:45 p.m. — Lunch
- 2:15 p.m. — Covering the Presidency, with Chris Whipple, Evan Thomas and Susan Glasser; moderated by Robert Costa
- 3:15 p.m. — Religious Freedom, with John Fea, David French and Mona Charen; moderated by Jeffrey Rosen
- 4 p.m. — Coffee break and book signing
- 4:30 p.m. — Civics Education (speakers to be announced)
- 5:30 p.m. — Farewell cocktails (location TBA)
Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington, is owned and operated by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, the oldest national historic preservation organization in the United States. The estate is open to visitors and includes the Mansion, a museum and education center, gardens, tombs, a working farm, a functioning distillery and a gristmill, as well as the George Washington Presidential Library.
