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Profs and Pints DC presents: “The Presidency at a Crossroads,” on the evolution and future of our nation’s highest office, with Barbara A. Perry, professor of presidential studies and co-chair of the Presidential Oral History Program at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center.
In the aftermath of one of the United States’ most consequential elections, Profs and Pints brings you an opportunity to gain an in-depth understanding of the presidency, one that goes far beyond slogans, sound bites, and the personalities of individual officeholders to look at the presidency as a political institution that has changed dramatically over time.
The speaker, Dr. Barbara Perry, has extensively interviewed more than 150 White House officials and is the author or editor of 17 books on American politics and law. She’ll take her audience at DC’s Penn Social on a journey through history, shedding light on how there came to be a vast disconnect between the Founders’ hopes and the modern electorate’s demands and expectations for the person in that office.
Among the questions she’ll tackle: How did the presidency become so “personal,” with the contours of the office shaped by the individual in it? How did the presidency transform from a constitutional set of formal powers into a vast array of policies and an expansive bureaucracy charged with implementing them?
You’ll come to see how presidents throughout our nation’s history have faced decisions with consequences for their office and their successors. The talk will trace the growth of presidential power resulting from direct leadership of “the people” facilitated by modern media and modern travel. It will assess the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling dealing with presidential criminal immunity, and it will consider whether we’ve witnessed the realization of one of the Founders’ biggest fears for the Republic—the rise of demagogues—and whether such a development can be reversed. (Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later.)
