How has presidential power changed over time? How much power does a president have in foreign relations? Is that a good thing? What sorts of experience have presidents had and should they have for holding office especially given the intricacies of international relations? In what ways has the presidency come to encompass U.S. national security policy? And how have presidents invoked national security from the founding era to the present? Is executive power to confront challenges and exploit opportunities changing in the 21st century?
This is the first event in Ohio State University’s America250 series, celebrating the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States in 1776. Presidential Historian and New America Fellow Dr. Alexis Coe will be in conversation with award-winning author and commentator OSU Professor of History and Woody Hayes Chair in National Security Studies Christopher McKnight Nichols focusing on these questions and many more related to the historical evolution of the presidency, presidential power, and national security. There will be significant time allotted for audience Q&A.
"How Should a President Be?" Series
Presidential Historian and New America Fellow Dr. Alexis Coe is spending 2023-2024 conducting a national conversation about the kind of wisdom, experience, and vision that has helped and harmed presidents, and by extension, the country’s faith in the office. This project, which is in anticipation of America's 250th in 2026, is engaging thought leaders in pursuit of a more detailed, nuanced portrait of a president in the twenty-first century. Events thus far in the series include a major panel discussion at The New York Historical Society and a conversation with New York Times writer Jamelle Bouie, among others. All events in the series are being developed into engaging multimedia formats for wider publics.
About Alexis Coe
Alexis Coe is an American presidential historian and fellow at New America, where she studies the presidency in anticipation of America's 250th. She is the New York Times bestselling author of You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George of Washington, now out in paperback. Alexis is the first woman historian to write a biography of Washington in over a hundred years and the only woman in over four decades. She served as a consulting producer on and appeared in Doris Kearns Goodwin's Washington series on the History Channel. Her first book, the award-winning Alice+Freda Forever: A Murder in Memphis, has been optioned. She is working on a third book on young John F. Kennedy for Crown. She frequently appears on live television and in documentaries on CNN, MSNBC, CBS, History, BBC, and PBS. She hosted the podcast No Man's Land and co-hosted Presidents Are People, Too!
Alexis has contributed to the New Yorker, the New York Times' opinion section, the New York Times Magazine, the New Republic, the Paris Review, Glamour, and many others. Her work has been featured in The Best American Essays and The Best American Travel Essays, and her essay on marriage and academia was one of the Atlantic's Great Debates of the Year. Thanks to a grant from Substack, launched Study Marry Kill, a newsletter.
Co-sponsors
Mershon Center for International Security Studies
This event is free and open to the public. Find out about Visitor Parking at Ohio State University:
https://osu.campusparc.com/find-parking/academic-visitor-parking/
