Bill Barker: "Meet Thomas Jefferson" (1 of 9)

Colonial Williamsburg's Bill Barker portrayed Thomas Jefferson at a program jointly hosted by the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum and the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies at Grand Valley State University. Bill Barker has brilliantly portrayed Jefferson for the past 20 years. Since 1993 he has been the star of Colonial Williamsburg. Attracted to the stage at an early age, Barker became a professional actor, director, and producer. He was cast as Jefferson in the musical, "1776," and has performed at the White House, the Palace of Versailles, and numerous other venues throughout the United States, Great Britain, and France. As Thomas Jefferson, he has appeared in programs on ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, CNN, The History Channel, and C-SPAN, and has been featured in Time Magazine, People, Atlantic, and Reader's Digest. The Hauenstein Center at Grand Valley illuminates the American presidency to raise civic literacy, learned discourse, and a new generation of leaders.