Dr. Leeman, a Salve Regina University professor, discusses his book, The Long Road to Annapolis, telling the story of Jones, a Scottish émigré who became a daring sea captain of the Revolutionary War. A naval professional who advocated for better education and training for American naval officers, he was forgotten by the American people. In the early 20th century, President Theodore Roosevelt gained public support for a large and powerful U.S. Navy by reclaiming Jones as “Father of the American Navy”.
William P. Leeman is a professor of history, chair of the Department of History, and a faculty fellow of the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island, where he has taught since 2011. After earning his B.A. degree from Providence College and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Boston University, he taught American history at the United States Military Academy at West Point from 2009-2011. He is the author of The Long Road to Annapolis: The Founding of the Naval Academy and the Emerging American Republic (University of North Carolina Press, 2010) and the co-editor, with John B. Hattendorf, of Forging the Trident: Theodore Roosevelt and the United States Navy (Naval Institute Press, 2020).