Living within a 60-mile circle of each other in Virginia, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe led in securing independence, hammering out the Constitution, and building the republic. Focusing on the intersecting roles these men played as warriors, intellectuals, and statesmen, Lynne Cheney takes us back to an exhilarating time when the Enlightenment opened new vistas for humankind. But Cheney also examines how the Virginians—despite being slaveholders—passed down ideals that inspired Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln to fight for the abolition of slavery.