Healdsburg AAUW Winter Forum Series

Dr. O'Sullivan leads us on an exploration of America?s past to assess how historians have interpreted our most significant presidencies. In recent decades historians have reached a consensus over the very best presidents (such as Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and FDR) whereas the reputations of the next tier (including Madison, Monroe, Wilson, Truman, Ike, JFK) have undergone fluctuation. How have historians defined ?success? or even ?greatness? in a presidency? What role do changing times and changing perspectives play in reassessing a presidency? Whose reputations are rising? Whose stock is falling, and why? Chris O?Sullivan, BA UC Berkeley, PhD University of London, teaches American history at University of San Francisco where he is the recipient of the Distinguished Lecturer Award (2012) and the Innovations in Teaching Prize (2014). He is the author of six books on American history and has lectured and conducted research at multiple presidential libraries.