WaterFire Symposium: Author Discussion with Corey Brettschneider

A WaterFire Symposium, The Presidents and The People: Five Leaders Who Threatened Democracy and the Citizens Who Fought to Defend It with Author Corey Brettschneider

Join us with our partners at Symposium Books as Professor Corey Brettschneider of Brown University discusses his book, The Presidents and The People: Five Leaders Who Threatened Democracy and the Citizens Who Fought to Defend It, an exploration of the American presidents who frequently tested the limits set by the Constitution; this is the inspiring story of those who challenged them. The book will be available for purchase at the event in the WaterFire Store.

ABOUT THE BOOK

American presidents have often pushed the boundaries established for them by the Constitution; this is the inspirational history of the people who pushed back.

Imagine an American president who imprisoned critics, spread a culture of white supremacy, and tried to upend the law so that he could commit crimes with impunity.

In this propulsive and eminently readable history, constitutional law and political science professor Corey Brettschneider provides a thoroughly researched account of assaults on democracy by not one such president but five. John Adams waged war on the national press of the early republic, overseeing numerous prosecutions of his critics. In the lead-up to the Civil War, James Buchanan colluded with the Supreme Court to deny constitutional personhood to African Americans. A decade later, Andrew Johnson urged violence against his political opponents as he sought to guarantee a white supremacist republic after the Civil War. In the 1910s, Woodrow Wilson modernized, popularized, and nationalized Jim Crow laws. In the 1970s, Richard Nixon committed criminal acts that flowed from his corrupt ideas about presidential power. Through their actions, these presidents illuminated the trip wires that can damage or even destroy our democracy.

Corey Brettschneider shows that these presidents didn’t have the last word; citizen movements brought the United States back from the precipice by appealing to a democratic understanding of the Constitution and pressuring subsequent reform-minded presidents to realize the promise of “We the People.” This is a book about citizens―Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells, Daniel Ellsberg, and more―who fought back against presidential abuses of power. Their examples give us hope about the possibilities of restoring a fragile democracy.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Corey Brettschneider has studied and taught politics and constitutional law for nearly all of his adult life. He earned a PhD in politics from Princeton and a law degree from Stanford. Since then, he has taught in Brown’s political science department and as a visiting professor in the law schools at Fordham, the University of Chicago, and Harvard. The focus of his teaching and writing has been on issues central to our democracy, like free speech, the role of courts in our system of government, and religious freedom.

ABOUT WATERFIRE SYMPOSIUM

WaterFire is pleased to partner with Symposium Books to host and co-curate this series of public dialogues that are presented for free and are open to all.

The WaterFire Symposium is a series of public lectures, readings and conversations about vital and timely issues from the arts to the sciences, from history to the climate crisis. WaterFire’s mission is to inspire our community. Bringing us all together in cordial discussion about the issues impacting our community helps us better understand the issues of the day.

**The views and opinions expressed by speakers/presenters at the WaterFire Arts Center are those of the speakers/authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of WaterFire Providence or any of our partners, sponsors, or supporters.**