THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY
MONDAY, February 16, 2009, 6:30 p.m.
$9 members, $15 non-members, $7 students and teachers.
Reservations Required. Please call 215.409.6700 or order online.
Annenberg Center for Education and Outreach
Kirby Auditorium
National Constitution Center
Independence Mall
525 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA
In honor of President's Day, historians William Leuchtenburg, Gary May and Timothy Naftali join us to discuss the American presidency. From the unexpected presidency of John Tyler, to the challenges Herbert Hoover confronted during the Great Depression, to the administration of George H.W. Bush and the end of the Cold War, the panel will shed fascinating new light on presidential leadership. With these leading historians, moderator Sean Wilentz will discuss the achievements and challenges of each president’s term, from foreign conflicts to domestic crises.
Virginian John Tyler was the first Vice President to be elevated to the office of president by the death of his predecessor, William Henry Harrison. His term was marked by party strife; the Whigs expelled the president from their party and all his cabinet members resigned save for the Secretary of State. Long after Tyler left the White House, when the first southern states seceded in 1861, he led a compromise movement; failing, he worked to create the Southern Confederacy. He died in 1862, a member of the Confederate House of Representatives.
Catapulted into national politics by his heroic campaigns to feed Europe during and after World War I, Herbert Hoover—an engineer by training—exemplified the economic optimism of the 1920s. As president, however, Hoover was sorely tested by America’s first crisis of the twentieth century: the Great Depression. Ultimately Hoover's hands-off attempt to enlist the aid of private-sector leaders did little to mitigate the spiral, and he was routed from office by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932.
The policies and themes of George Herbert Walker Bush's presidency resembled those of his Republican predecessor, Ronald Reagan. Prepared by durable national service, Bush came to office equipped to meet the challenges facing the United States as the Cold War ended. He shepherded Russian reformers through the liberalization of their socialist system and skillfully orchestrated the reunification of Germany. And following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, he united the global community to defeat and punish Saddam Hussein. Domestically, Bush reasserted principles of fiscal discipline and political accountability.
William E. Leuchtenburg, a professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is a noted authority on twentieth-century American history. A winner of both the Bancroft and Parkman prizes, he is the author of numerous books on the New Deal, including The FDR Years: On Roosevelt & His Legacy. In 2008, he was chosen as the first recipient of the Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. Award for Distinguished Writing in American History of Enduring Public Significance. His most recent book is a biography of our 31st President, Herbert Hoover.
Gary May is a professor of history at the University of Delaware. He is the author of four books, including the critically acclaimed The Informant: The FBI, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Murder of Viola Liuzzo. His newest book is a biography of our 10th President, John Tyler.
Timothy Naftali, author of George H.W. Bush, is the director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, having previously served as director of the Presidential Recordings Program at the University of Virginia. A frequent contributor to Slate and NPR, he is the co-author of the award-winning Khrushchev’s Cold War: The Inside Story of an American Adversary and One Hell of a Gamble: Khrushchev, Castro, and Kennedy, 1958–1964. He is also the author of Blind Spot: The Secret History of American Counterterrorism.
Sean Wilentz, a professor of history at Princeton University, is the series editor of the American Presidency Series with Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. In addition to his contribution to the series, Andrew Jackson, he is the author or editor of eight previous books, including Chants Democratic and The Rise of American Democracy. He has also written on contemporary politics and history for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The New Republic, and other publications.
A book sale and signing will follow the program courtesy of Joseph Fox Bookshop. Parking for this event is available for $7.00 at the National Constitution Center garage located at the rear of the building on Race Street between 5th and 6th Streets. Parking availability is subject to change, so please call the ConstitutionCenter on the day of the program or check our web site for more information. Please also see our directions by public transportation.
For reservations please call 215.409.6700 or order online. Programs at the National Constitution Center begin promptly and latecomers may not be admitted to the program. Please note that this program is subject to change.
Links:
Slate: Review of Herbert Hoover
The American Presidency Series