A new book, “Serpent in Eden,” authored by BYU history professor Tyson Reeder, recently received the George Washington Prize at a Union Club ceremony in New York City.
The George Washington Prize is a $50,000 award that highlights the year’s best publications on the Revolutionary and Founding eras.
“This prize represents the best literature that is produced in my field,” Reeder said. “I say that with a little hesitation now, because it makes it sound like I'm bragging about my book, but it’s just the type of prize that you'd look at and say, ‘Wouldn’t that be cool if I ever actually won the Washington Prize?’”
The winning book is selected for the historic insights it offers to the general public. Past recipients include Lin-Manuel Miranda, Annette Gordon-Reed and Nathaniel Philbrick, among others.
“You look at the names who have won it, and you think, wouldn't that be amazing to be in that category of historians?” Reeder said. “And now, all of a sudden, I'm in that category of historians.”
The award is co-funded by Washington College, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and George Washington’s Mount Vernon.
“Serpent in Eden: Foreign Meddling and Partisan Politics in James Madison’s America” is a culmination of Reeder’s international work. London, Lisbon, Paris and Madrid were among his most influential travel destinations. Reeder examined primary sources, such as letters between diplomats and rulers, and uncovered connections to James Madison’s political wrestle.
The title came from the common assumption that a lurking power has bad intentions. “In early America, they fell into a calamitous cycle between foreign meddling and partisan politics,” Reeder said. “Foreign powers would meddle in U.S. politics, and U.S. political parties would then accuse each other of colluding with the foreign power that's doing the meddling—of being that serpent in Eden.”
Reeder started this work while teaching at the University of Virginia. About his life in academia, Reeder said, “I’ve wanted to be a historian since fifth grade, but when you go into academia, you deal with a lot of rejection. You submit articles to be published, and they get rejected. You submit conference papers that get rejected. You apply for jobs and get rejected. So, winning the Washington Prize makes me feel like I've fulfilled my potential as a historian.”
For Reeder, the experience was an even sweeter realization of his academic journey because of who delivered the news. “It was Lindsay Chervinsky who made the call. We did our Ph.D.s together, so I had this old friend, close colleague, who gave me the call and let me know the really exciting news.”
Chervinsky introduced Reeder at the Union Club ceremony, where he received his medal and gave a short acceptance speech. In that speech, he said humbly, “If I’ve learned anything from George Washington, it’s that when receiving high honors, one ‘ought to be peculiarly conscious of his own deficiencies.’”
Receiving the award prompted Reeder to look inward, and he hopes his book will encourage readers to do the same. “I see this as my attempt to fulfill President Nelson's recent plea that we be peacemakers,” Reeder said. “To look at what were some of the problems that plagued the early United States and help Americans avoid that today—to help them be peacemakers.”
