Aspen Institute begins Presidential Series in New York 

On January 14, the Aspen Institute and the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY) kicked off a series of conversations on presidential leadership as part of a new area of programming called “Aspen at Roosevelt House.” NBC News special correspondent Tom Brokaw moderated David Kennedy, Stanford University’s Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History, and Joan Hoff, distinguished research professor at Montana State University, in a conversation on war and the presidency at this inaugural event.

At the sold-out event, the speakers compared and contrasted how presidents have handled conflicts including World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf War, and the Iraq War, and discussed the importance of maintaining the balance of power between Congress and the President during times of war. The next installment of the invitation-only series, “The President and Civil Rights,” will take place on March 5 and will feature Pulitzer Prize–winning author Taylor Branch and former Stanford Law School dean Kathleen Sullivan, along with moderator Juan Williams, NPR senior correspondent.