Richard Norton Smith, the award-winning presidential historian and former director of five presidential libraries, is visiting Grand Rapids to deliver seven presentations on American presidents from November 12-15 at Grand Valley State University.
These presentations are brought to you by the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies at GVSU. The Haunstein Center's goal is to increase informed discussion of the U.S. presidency among scholars, government leaders, student leaders, and the public.
Smith's schedule can be found on the Haunstein Center's website.
The lectures are:
"Does Character Count?"
In recent years, pundits and politicians alike have asked this question; others debate the very meaning of the term. Do personal and political character diverge? When does an idealist become an ideologue? Is consistency an unaffordable luxury in the White House, and does the national interest trump individual conviction? Smith will lead a provocative, often humorous, and frequently surprising re-examination of the nation's highest office, and what it takes to land on Mount Rushmore.
"The Surprising George Washington"
Enjoy an "up close and personal" look at the man behind the marble statue. George Washington's personality and character shaped not only the presidency, but the early republic in ways that are still being felt.
"The Fiery Trial of Abraham Lincoln"
The Fiery Trial of Abraham Lincoln will examine Lincoln's "permanent campaign" for status and political success, which morphed over time into something much more important than either. In this age rife with cynicism about politics, here is a politician who converted mere ambition into the leadership model against which all presidents are judged
"The Gold in the Gilded Age"
The Gold in the Gilded Age will reassess one of the most embarrassing periods in US history, whose robber barons were, in fact, a second generation of American revolutionaries, and whose presidents were more than the dimly recalled non-entities whom the writer Thomas Wolfe called The Lost Americans.
"Theodore Roosevelt in the Bully Pulpit"
Theodore Roosevelt was the first "modern" president and a great communicator who transformed public expectations even as he and his colorful family entertained the nation. After TR it was no longer enough for a president to be a purely administrative figure - he must be an advocate as well, a master of media manipulation, and an agenda setter. The glories and pitfalls of "strong" presidential leadership can be largely attributed to TR.
"Woodrow Wilson and the Law of Unintended Consequences"
Woodrow Wilson was the professor turned politician, whose first term set records in enactment of progressive legislation, and whose second term turned into a train wreck of embarrassments. He coined a term for America's view of its special calling on the world stage - Wilsonianism - which to this day is a powerful factor in US foreign policy in Iraq and other places around the globe.
"Roosevelt and Reagan: Eternal Optimists"
Discarding conventional labels, Smith will look at the twentieth century's most important presidents, one from the left and one from the right, and discover the many things they had in common.
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Well, it's time to start thinking about the holidays and what to get for friends and family. This year, I'm attempting to make gifts for everyone on my list and to hopefully save some money. All I need now are some ideas. Luckily, the library has once again come to my rescue. 
Many gathered yesterday in celebration of the groundbreaking for the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington DC. Among the thousands in attendance were President George Bush, former President Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey and King's children. The King Memorial will be the first monument on the National Mall that honours an African-American, and is only half-mile from where he gave his famous, "I Have a Dream" speech. 