Dick Cheatham is a native of Richmond, Virginia, Dick is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute (one of America’s top schools of leadership) with a Degree in History and Liberal Arts. A weekly newspaper columnist, member of the National Speakers Association, and “living history” character portrayer, Dick has been an educator and a television journalist, having covered the Virginia State Capitol and the Governor’s Office for six years.
In addition to thousands of presentations to all sorts of groups over the past seventeen years, he has appeared on the BBC and The Learning Channel, has been interviewed on Entertainment Tonight and the Voice of America and is appearing in several TV series this year. He is also listed in Who’s Who in Professional Speaking.
His interest in history flows directly from his strong and broad interest in ideas - why people do what they do. Many of the fundamental concepts that guided the formation of the USA took root and matured in the area where he was born and raised. These are concepts that fascinate Dick and have motivated him to study our incomparable American History and demonstrate its relevance to us today.
Most recently, Dick has been busy presenting himself as Captain Meriwether Lewis, who opened the American west for Jefferson’s vision of an Empire of Liberty and as John Rolfe, husband of Pocahontas and savior of the English Colony that became the USA, from whom he is directly descended fourteen generations ago. Dick also portrays President John Tyler, one of America’s most courageous and principled Chief Executives and Richard Henry Lee who made (not wrote) the declaration of independence.
“Captain Meriwether Lewis” brings to your group valuable lessons from the past. The topics below are great for keynotes, luncheons, anytime you want to inspire and stimulate in a presentation that will be remembered for years. Your special theme or message will be customized within Captain Lewis’ unforgettable presentation. His timeless message will entertain your group as well as enlighten and inspire them. One of these topics will be perfect for your group:
1. “Jefferson’s Great Vision” - It is not well known that Captain Meriwether Lewis was not only explorer extra ordinaire, he was also President Thomas Jefferson’s personal secretary who lived in the White House for two years before his well-known expedition with William Clark et al. Lewis had been neighbor, personal friend and political ally to Jefferson even before his appointment as personal secretary. As a Jeffersonian through and through he subscribed to Jefferson’s vision of an “Empire of Liberty” and was hostile to “Federalists” and their contrary visions. Here is that man.
2. “Overcoming All Challenges” - If ever there was a master of problem solving, it was Meriwether Lewis. The leadership of Captain Lewis and his close friend Captain William Clark was a textbook example of how to take on a difficult task, one with challenges which can not be imagined, and then overcome all to achieve unbelievable successes, and all with minimal cost to your team. Undaunted courage carried the Corps of Discovery from Mississippi to the Pacific, but judgement, calm and cool, resulted in the success of the mission.
3. “Planning and Training for Success” - The mission left in May from the east bank of the Mississippi, but the planning had been going on for over a year. One of the most important reasons for the success of the mission was the extensive and detailed planning and training which went into the project by Captain Meriwether Lewis. From the beginning of the project until Lewis reached the Falls of the Ohio river, the mission was the Lewis Expedition. There was no Clark, there was no Corps. Captain Lewis helped conceive the mission with President Jefferson, underwent extensive training and acquired all the necessary equipment and accouterments for the trip west. His planning and study, in the face of little certain knowledge of needs, was a masterpiece of creative envisioning.
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