Jeffrey Clark

What is your current position?

I am currently an Associate Editor at Fox News Digital.

What inspired you to choose this career path?

I have been interested in Journalism and in writing since I was in college.

How did you hear about the Claremont Institute?

I first heard about the Claremont Institute when I was working in the Department of the Interior as a speechwriter. One of my colleagues at the time became a Publius Fellow and had great things to say about the experience.

All those recommendations and more were confirmed by my time learning from professors about American foreign policy, natural right and natural law, and Lincoln’s statesmanship, among many other topics. I can’t recommend the experience enough.

What is your fondest memory of the Claremont Institute?

I loved the Newport Harbor boat outing. We had just given our 4^th of July speeches, a Publius tradition, and we were nearing the end of our fellowship period, so it was a truly special opportunity to celebrate America, the Founding, and new friendships with the other fellows.

It helps that the weather was beautiful too and that I was there with a great class of fellows, whom I still consider to be my friends.

If you could have a fireside chat with an American Founder, or any great thinker, who would it be, why, and what would you discuss?

I’ve always had a love for John Adams. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend David McCullough’s biography of Adams, which I read as a college student. It is a wonderful and incredibly moving account of one of our most brilliant Founding Fathers.

Adams was a devout man who was known among his peers as being incredibly honest — his friends called him “Honest John” — and who served his country as an ambassador, Vice President, and President. He also spoke English, French, and Latin and like the rest of the Founding Fathers was deeply learned in the classics.

I still remember how I felt when I read the final words of that book. A great biography, as McCullough knows, allows you to form a connection with that person, almost as if he were a close friend. I highly recommend it.

What was one of your most memorable experiences while working/living in South Korea?

During my first year with Fulbright, I learned how to play a Korean traditional drum, called a buk, with a class of around 10 other teachers. After a few months of practice, we learned a drum dance and performed in front of hundreds of students at the high school that I was posted at.

The teachers kept the performance a secret from the students, which meant that they were totally shocked when I appeared on stage. But I think my performance especially surprised the older teachers at my school, many of whom approached me later that week and told me that they never expected an American to learn an old Korean folk dance.

The teachers at my school gifted me the drum with personal notes and I’m glad to say that I still have it at my home.

What books are you currently reading?

My uncle, a history buff, gifted me a set of Winston Churchill’s series on The Second World War. It is worth remembering that Churchill was not only a statesman, but also an orator and a tremendous writer.