Pulitzer Prize winner shares historic nature of politics as U.S. celebrates 250th anniversary

Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and New York Times bestselling author Jon Meacham discussed the nature of American politics through pivotal moments in U.S. history. Meacham said that the nation was originally founded on the notion of politics as "an aspirational arena of contention," where different interests were disputed before reaching a consensus. He added that conflicts regarding power and other matters are inevitable.

"But it's the test of citizenship - the test of our greatest hours has been just enough of us have managed and marshaled those feelings, and just enough of us have decided that reaching out is more important than pulling back," Meacham said.