I highly recommend this 25-minute discussion led by Bill Moyers in order to learn Thomas Paine's story. Why is Paine so under-appreciated? Moyers discusses Paine's deeply democratic ideas with author Harvey J. Kaye and National Review senior editor Richard Brookhiser. What did Thomas Paine advocate for? An exceedingly progressive agenda:

• Ending slavery
• Granting women total equality
• Complete separation of church and state.
• Establishment of public education

Paine was also a deist (not an atheist), who, in The Age of Reason, unrelentingly attacked organized religions, which he considered to be fraudulent. He claimed that all books are written by men, not God. On the other hand, he believed that the creation was God's presence and that people who want to know God should study creation rather than reading supposedly sacred writings. Ironic, then, that Thomas Paine was held in high esteem by Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrich.