7:15 pm - 9:00 pm: Seminar (Ashbrook Center, 8th Floor, Ashland University Library)

Topic: Presidential Greatness and American Democracy

Focus: Is extraordinary democratic leadership possible? Under what circumstances should a president ignore public opinion? What is the meaning of presidential greatness? Is a great president necessarily a good one?

Readings:

• Landy Milkis, Chapter 1
• Harvey C. Mansfield, Taming the Prince: The Ambivalence of Executive Power, Chapter 1 (Photocopied Reading Packet)
• Sheldon Wolin and Harvey C. Mansfield, Jr., Forum on Harvey C. Mansfield Jr.'s Taming the Prince, Studies in American Political Development, Spring, 1992. (Photocopied Reading Packet)

9:00 am - 10:30 am: Seminar (Ashbrook Center, AU Library)

Topic: Creating the Constitutional Presidency

Focus: What role did George Washington play at the Constitution Convention? Did the Constitution provide a congent blueprint for executive power? Or did it invite an ongoing struggle over the presidency? Does the Constitution prescribe that the President should take responsibility for the moral health of the nation? What Constitutional provisiton relate to this responsibility?

Readings:

• Landy and Milkis, Chapter 2, pp. 12-22
• Nelson, Documents 1-3.
• Mansfield, Taming the Prince, Chapter 10 (Photocopied Reading Packet)
• Letters from the Federal Farmer, Letter 1 (Photocopied Reading Packet)

10:50 am - 12:20 pm: Seminar (Ashbrook Center, AU Library)

Topic: George Washington and Republican Responsibility

Focus: What contributions did Washington make as president? According to conventional wisdom, Washington's rhetoric was not a critical part of his presidential leadership? Does the Farewell Address defy the conventional wisdom? Is Washington's legacy still with us?

Readings:

• Landy and Milkis, Chapter 2, pp. 22-39.
• Nelson, document, 4-6
• Washington, Farewell Address

4:30 pm - 6:00 pm: Seminar (Ashbrook Center, AU Library)

Topic: Jefferson and the Revolution of 1800

Focus: Jefferson says in his first Inaugural Address, “We are all republicans; we are all federalists.” Yet Alexis de Tocqueville describes the struggle between the Federalists and Jeffersonian Republicans as one of "great party conflict," that is, one where the parties were divided by first principles. Did fundamental issues divide these parties? Or was their battle a “lovers’ quarrel” in which the differences were heated but limited? What role did disputes over the appropriate authority of the executive play in arousing conflict between the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans?

Reading:

• Landy and Milks, Chapter 3, pp. 40-66
• Nelson, document 8
• Hofstadter, The Idea of a Party System, Chapter 3 (Photocopied Reading Packet).

7:30 pm - 9:30 pm: Seminar (Ashbrook Center, AU Library)

Topic: Jefferson's "Empire"

Focus: Did Jefferson believe that a president should be a party leader? Can an “Empire” protect Liberty? Can a president be an emperor of liberty? Did Jefferson strengthen or weaken the presidency?

Reading:

• Landy and Milkis, Chapter 3, pp. 67-79.
• Nelson, document 9.
• Hofstadter, The Idea of a Party System, Chapter 4 (Photocopied Reading Packet).
• Peter Onuf, Jefferson’s Empire, Chapters 1-3 (Photocopied Reading Packet).

9:00 am - 10:30 am: Seminar (Ashbrook Center, AU Library)

Topic: Andrew Jackson and The Idea of a Party System

Focus: With the advent of "Jacksonian democracy," a party system is defended as a legitimate institution. How did this development change presidential politics and government? Why did Jackson defend a “rotation in office”? Are his arguments persuasive? Was the Democratic party a creature Jackson’s ambition? Or did it constrain his power?

Jackson’s veto of the Bank bill is considered a critical episode in securing presidential authority to participate in legislative matters. Yet in the aftermath of the Bank fight, Tocqueville wrote, "General Jackson's power is constantly increasing, but that of the president grows less. The federal government is strong in his hands; it will pass to his successor enfeebled." Did the Bank veto strengthen or weaken the presidency?

Jacksonian democracy championed local self-government, yet Jackson sought to defend the Union in his Proclamation against South Carolina’s Nullification Ordinance. How could Jackson defend both nationalism and localism? How did changes in the executive office during the 1830s contribute to the rise of these seemingly contradictory principles?

Readings:

• Landy and Milkis, Chapter 4.
• Nelson, documents 11-12.
• Hofstadter, Chapter 6 (Photocopied Reading Packet).
• Jackson, Bank Veto Message (Photocopied Reading Packet).
• Jackson, Nullification Proclamation (Photocopied Reading Packet).

10:50 am - 12:20 pm: Seminar (Ashbrook Center, AU Library)

Topic: The Rise of Lincoln and the Republican Party

Focus: What does Lincoln’s Lyceum address tell us about his view of leadership and his own ambition? How were Lincoln’s views on the Union similar to and different from Jackson’s views? Is it true, as Lincoln claims, that, politically speaking, a “house divided against itself cannot stand”?

Readings:

• Landy and Milkis, Chapter 5, pp. 114-129.
• Wills, chapters 1-3
• Abraham Lincoln, Lyceum Address (Photocopied Reading Packet).
• Lincoln, House Divided Speech (Photocopied Reading Packet).

4:30 pm - 6:00 pm: Seminar (Ashbrook Center, AU Library)

Topic: Lincoln as president: “benign despot” or savior of the Union?

Focus: What is the relationship between Lincoln’s role as president and Lincoln’s role as party leader? Gary Wills argues that Lincoln's address at Gettysburg led to "a new founding" of the nation. What were the distinct features of the "new" republic? Did Lincoln remake American politics himself, and so fundamentally? Presidential scholars frequently rank Lincoln as the greatest United States president. What were the most important strengths of Lincoln's leadership? Did his talents and achievements strengthen constitutional government in the United States? Or did his leadership exhibit an inherent tension between extraordinary presidential leadership and constitutional forms?

Readings:

• Landy and Milkis, Chapter 5, 129-152.
• Wills, Chapters 4-5, Epilogue
• Nelson, documents 14-17.

9:00 am - 10:30 am: Seminar (Ashbrook Center, AU Library)

Topic: Populists and Progressives

Focus: What are the major themes of William Jennings Bryan’s Cross of Gold Speech? How does Theodore Roosevelt’s concept of presidential leadership differ from that of the Populists? Why role does TR foresee for America in world affairs? How does TR’s foreign policy affect the executive office?

Readings:

• Cooper, Chapters 1,3,5-6.
• Nelson, document 19.
• Sidney M. Milkis and Michael Nelson, The American Presidency: Origins and Developments, 1776-2002, Chapter 8 (Photocopied Reading Packet).
• Theodore Roosevelt, The Strenuous Life (Photocopied Reading Packet).

10:50 am - 12:20 pm: Seminar (Ashbrook Center, AU Library)

Topic: The Great Campaign of 1912 and the New World Order

Focus: What are the most important differences between New Nationalism and New Freedom Progressivism? What are the most important differences between TR’s and Wilson’s views on foreign affairs? Why was the League of Nation’s Treaty defeated? Landy and Milkis do not consider TR and Wilson “great” presidents? Is this an oversight?

Readings:

• Cooper, Chapters 2, 4, 7-14.
• Milkis and Nelson, The American Presidency, Chapter 9 (Photocopied Reading Packet).
• Progressive Party Platform of 1912 (Photocopied Reading Packet).
• Theodore Roosevelt, Confession of Faith (Progressive Party Convention) (Photocopied Reading Packet).
• Woodrow Wilson, First Inaugural Address
• Woodrow Wilson, Fourteen Points

7:30 pm - 9:30 pm: Guest Lecture with Michael Nelson, Rhodes College (Ashbrook Center, AU Library)

Topic: “Lincoln and Religion”

9:00 am - 10:30 am: Seminar (Ashbrook Center, AU Library)

Topic: Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal Democratic Party

Focus: Franklin Roosevelt praised Lincoln “for transfusing with new meaning the concepts of our constitutional fathers and…assur[ing] a Government having for its broad purpose the promotion of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (Landy and Milkis, 158). Was FDR’s leadership inspired by Lincoln’s? What features of Roosevelt’s presidency built on Lincoln’s legacy? Which departed from it? To what degree did reforms like Social Security and the National Labor Relations Act represent a change in American political culture? Was Roosevelt a great party leader?

Readings:

• Landy and Milkis, Chapter 6, pp. 153-175
• Nelson, document 22.
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Commonwealth Club Address (Photocopied Reading Packet)
• FDR, First Fireside Chat March 12, 1933 (Photocopied Reading Packet).
• FDR, Acceptance Speech for the Renomination for the Presidency (Photocopied Reading Packet).

10:50 am - 12:20 pm: Seminar (Ashbrook Center, AU Library)

Topic: FDR and the Modern Executive Establishment

Focus: What is the modern presidency? Does it mark a fundamental departure from the constitutional presidency? What is the “third New Deal”? Did the initiatives of this phase of New Deal reform strengthen or weaken the Constitution? Roosevelt was not only an important national leader, but also a world leader of considerable significance. How did World War II and its aftermath affect the presidency? Did “Dr. Win the War” displace “Dr. New Deal”? How did the national security state that emerged from World War II affect the development of the modern presidency?

Readings:

• Landy and Milkis, Chapter 6, 175-193
• Nelson, documents 23-26.
• FDR, State of the Union Address, 1944 (Photocopied Reading Packet).

4:30 pm - 6:00 pm: Art of Teaching Seminar with Professor Schramm (Ashbrook Center, AU Library)

7:30 pm - 9:30 pm: Guest Lecture with Alonzo Hamby, Ohio University (Ashbrook Center, AU Library)

Topic: Franklin Roosevelt and the World Crisis

9:00 am - 10:30 am: Seminar (Ashbrook Center, AU Library)

Topic: The Shadow of FDR

Focus: William Luechtenburg claims that FDR’s presidency has cast a shadow over every president who has followed him? Is this true? Why has the New Deal proven to be so persistent in the face of the massive changes in American politics since World War II? Why did Lyndon Johnson, who had great ambition, fall short of being a great president? Why did Ronald Reagan fall short of his stated ambition to provide leadership that would bring about a new conservative political order?

Readings:

• Landy and Milkis, Chapter 7
• Leuchtenburg, Chapters 2, 4, 7-8.

10:50 am - 12:20 pm: Seminar (Ashbrook Center, AU Library)

Topic: Is Presidential Greatness still possible?

Focus: What political circumstances have made presidential greatness less likely in contemporary America? Harvey Mansfield writes in the conclusion to Taming the Prince that "In the search for charisma, a democratic people is asking to be fooled, and justifying in advance the levity and irresponsibility of its leaders" (Taming the Prince, 284). Is there an unhealthy obsession with charisma in contemporary American politics? What changes in American politics have led to the search for charisma? Does such an obsession, as Mansfield suggests, threaten the solid benefits of constitutional administration promised by Publius? Did the unspeakable horror of 9/11 provide an opportunity for great presidential leadership? Has President George W. Bush risen to the challenge posed by the attack on America and the War against Terrorism?

Readings:

• Landy and Milkis, Chapter 8.
• Mansfield, Taming the Prince, Chapter 11 (Photocopied Reading Packet).
• Marc Landy, “The Bully Pulpit and the War on Terror (Photocopied Reading Packet).