About this item
What So Proudly We Hailed is the first full-length biography of Francis Scott Key in more than 75 years. In this fascinating look at early America, historian Marc Leepson explores the life and legacy of Francis Scott Key. Standing alongside Betsy Ross, Thomas Paine, Patrick Henry, Paul Revere, and John Hancock in history, Key made his mark as an American icon by one single and unforgettable act, writing “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Among other things, Leepson reveals:• How the young Washington lawyer found himself in Baltimore Harbor on the night of September 13-14, 2014• The mysterious circumstances surrounding how the poem he wrote, first titled “The Defense of Ft. M’Henry,” morphed into the National Anthem• Key’s role in forming the American Colonization Society, and his decades-long fervent support for that controversial endeavor that sent free blacks to Africa• His adamant opposition to slave trafficking and his willingness to represent slaves and freed men and women for free in Washington’s courts• Key’s role as a confidant of President Andrew Jackson and his work in Jackson’s “kitchen cabinet”• Key’s controversial actions as U.
About the Author
I am a journalist and historian and the author of eight books. The most recent is What So Proudly We Hailed: Francis Scott Key, A Life (June 2014) , the first biography of the author of "The Star Spangled Banner" in more than seventy-five years.
My other books include Lafayette: Idealist General (2011) , a concise biography of the Marquis de Lafayette; Desperate Engagement (2007) , a history of the Civil War Battle of Monocacy; Flag: An American Biography (2005) , a history of the Stars and Stripes from the beginnings to the 21st century; and Saving Monticello (2001) , a history of Thomas Jefferson's house that concentrates at what happened after Jefferson died. I also edited The Webster's New World Dictionary of the Vietnam War.
I am a former staff writer for Congressional Quarterly, and have been a full-time free-lance writer since 1986. I have written for many publications, including the Washington Post, New York Times, New York Times Book Review, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, Smithsonian, Military History, Civil War Times, and Preservation Magazines, the Encyclopedia Americana, and the Dictionary of Virginia Biography.
I am senior writer, arts editor and columnist for The Veteran, the magazine published by Vietnam Veterans of America.
I have been a guest on many television and radio news programs, including All Things Considered, Morning Edition, On the Media, Talk of the Nation, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, The History Detectives (PBS) , The History Channel, Discovery Channel, CBC (Canada) , The BBC NewsHour, RTV-1 (Russian television) and Irish Radio.
I have given talks at many colleges and universities, including the University of Maryland, the University of Notre Dame, the University of Miami, Mary Washington University, Sweet Brian College, Longwood University, Appalachian State University, the College of Southern Maryland and Georgetown University.
I tought U.S. history at Lord Fairfax Community College in Warrenton, Virginia, from 2007-2015.
After graduating from George Washington University in 1967, I was then drafted into the U.S. Army and served for two years, including a year in the Vietnam War. After my military service, I earned an MA in history from GWU in 1971.
If you would like to know more about my writing career, I invite you to go to my website: www.marcleepson.com
