Please join the Clements Center and Strauss Center on October 18th, from 5-7pm in the Main Building Jamail Room (MAI 212), for a talk with Prof. Jeremi Suri on his new book The Impossible Presidency: The Rise and Fall of America's Highest Office. Prof. Suri is the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, teaching in both the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the College of Liberal Arts History Department. This event, which is co-sponsored by the LBJ School and History Department, is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. Copies of Prof. Suri’s book will be available for sale following the conclusion of his talk.
In The Impossible Presidency, celebrated historian Jeremi Suri charts the rise and fall of the American presidency, from the limited role envisaged by the Founding Fathers to its current status as the most powerful job in the world. He argues that the presidency is a victim of its own success-the vastness of the job makes it almost impossible to fulfill the expectations placed upon it. As managers of the world's largest economy and military, contemporary presidents must react to a truly globalized world in a twenty-four-hour news cycle. There is little room left for bold vision.
Suri traces America's disenchantment with our recent presidents to the inevitable mismatch between presidential promises and the structural limitations of the office. A masterful reassessment of presidential history, this book is essential reading for anyone trying to understand America's fraught political climate.
Jeremi Suri holds the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. He is a professor in the university's Department of History and the LBJ School of Public Affairs. Professor Suri is the author and editor of nine books on contemporary politics and foreign policy. His most recent book, forthcoming in September 2017, is The Impossible Presidency: The Rise and Fall of America’s Highest Office (Basic Books). Professor Suri writes for major newspapers and magazines including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News, The Houston Chronicle, The Boston Globe, Foreign Affairs, The Atlantic, The American Prospect, Fortune, and Wired. He also writes for various online sites and blogs. He is a popular public lecturer, and he appears frequently on radio and television programs. Professor Suri’s professional webpage is: http://jeremisuri.net/