As America watches attack-ad wars and campus political groups gear up for the Nov. 2 midterm election, the Danforth Center on Religion & Politics hosted its first public event—an address on religion and politics given by Jon Meacham.

“This is a very important formal beginning,” said Chancellor Mark Wrighton Tuesday as he introduced Meacham and former Missouri senator Jack Danforth. The Center’s aim is to link scholarship with public discourse, civic life and higher education.

Danforth, while introducing Meacham, pointed to the importance of open discussion about the role of religion in the public sphere.

“The word ‘religion’ connotes holding things together, but throughout history, nothing has been more divisive,” he said. “The more light shed on the relationship of religion to politics, the healthier America will be.”

Meacham, who is the co-anchor of PBS’ “Need to Know,” former editor of Newsweek and the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of American Lion and the New York Times bestseller American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers and the Making of a Nation, spoke to the audience about how the country’s founders dealt with faith while forming the nation.

In between making quips about Jessica Simpson, William Howard Taft and Chancellor Wrighton, Meacham took the audience on a historical trip through time, highlighting the use of religion in the writings and speeches of post-World War II American presidents.

“The American gospel is that religion shapes the life of this nation without strangling it,” he said.

Meacham also discussed the longevity and power of the system designed by the Founding Fathers, pointing to the fact that no president has made a serious effort to rewrite the preamble to the Constitution.

“The power of the republican system is its ability to check extremism,” he said.

Following his address, Meacham fielded questions from the audience. When asked whether he thought true religious pluralism was possible in America, Meacham called it “demographic destiny.”

“The American story, for 400 years, has been that the wider we’ve opened our arms, the stronger we’ve become,” he said.

Meacham also discussed the upcoming midterm election, saying that the frequency with which sound bytes of information are disseminated has contributed to a culture of dissatisfaction and anxiety among voters.

“Next week will be a victory for those who are angry and anxious about what’s happening right now,” he said. “There’s not a political cycle anymore—there’s a political treadmill.”

Though the event was well attended by members of the community—including many Washington University alumni—there were few students in attendance.

“I didn’t think it was very well publicized,” junior Daniel Rubin said. “It’s tough to know what the Center for Religion & Politics is and does before it really begins with programming or curriculum, and I feel like unless you’re really in tune with politics, you probably don’t know who Jon Meacham is.”

Other students agreed.

“I would attribute [the low student attendance] to midterms and the fact that it wasn’t well advertised. I didn’t know about it until my friend told me about it an hour before,” junior Jacob Witt said.

Still, Rubin enjoyed the event.

“I thought it was really interesting,” he said. “Meacham was awesome.”

With additional reporting by Kate Gaertner and Michelle Merlin.