This course examines the lives, character, political thought, and political practice of two of the twentieth century's most notable presidents: Lyndon Baines Johnson and Ronald Reagan. The course will address both the domestic reform agenda each proposed, as well as the foreign policy challenges each faced. The sources and circumstances of the political and economic philosophies of each will be surveyed, along with an assessment of where each succeeded and failed to attain his objectives and areas where a full verdict is more difficult to reach.
Instructors: Steven Hayward is the Thomas and Mabel Guy Professor of American History & Government at Ashland University, and the F. K. Weyerhaeuser Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He is the author of Churchill on Leadership: Executive Success in the Face of Adversity; The Age of Reagan, 1964-1980: The Fall of the Old Liberal Order; and the recently released The Age of Reagan, 1980-1989: The Conservative Counterrevolution, 1980-1989. Gregory L. Schneider is Associate Professor of American History at Emporia State University. He is the author of The Conservative Century: From Reaction to Revolution and Cadres for Conservatism: Young Americans for Freedom and the Rise of the Contemporary Right.