This course provides an overview of the origin and subsequent development of the position of U.S. President and that of First Lady from the eighteenth century to the present. The class meetings center around significant U.S. Presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan. In addition, we will consider historically important First Ladies: Martha Washington, Dolley Madison, and Eleanor Roosevelt among them. Special attention will be paid to how the offices of the U.S. President and First Lady have evolved over time; when U.S. Presidents and First Ladies have provided leadership in moments of national crisis; and what Americans have come to expect of their leaders.
- Professor: Thomas Balcerski