American Conversations

April 15, 2013 Part of the Common Ground InitiativePanelists: Michael DeWilde, Barbara Elliott, Winston Elliott, Ted McAllister, Paul Murphy, Noreen MyersIs common ground possible in our polarized political and cultural environment?Join us for a robust exploration of what it means ...

April 10, 2013America First Ladies an Enduring Legacy. Laura and Barbara Bush visit Grand Rapids. ...

March 7, 2013H.W. Brands comes back to West Michigan to discuss the idea of presidential greatness. It turns out that America's greatest presidents served either during war or economic depression. Drawing from his past research on Franklin Roosevelt and his current work on Ronald Re ...

January 29, 2013The Gerald R Ford Presidential Library and Museum present Dr. Madeleine Albright on her history of diplomacy and her collection of world famous pins.http://youtu.be/Tby4YsMHyTMDr. Albright was the 2013 recipient of the Col Ralph W Hauenstein Fellowshiphttp://youtu.be ...

January 29, 2013Hauenstien Center Director Gleaves Whitney discusses how President Reagan's most important foreign policy decision was closer to home than we might think. ...

January 29, 2013Get a behind the scenes look at the new PBS documentary The Reagan Presidency. The films producers Chip Duncan and David Crouse. ...

March 7, 2013Q&A with Gleaves Whitney and HW Brands ...

Thomas Jefferson hated confrontation, and yet his understanding of power and of human nature enabled him to move men and to marshal ideas, to learn from his mistakes, and to prevail. Passionate about many things—women, his family, books, science, architecture, gardens, friends, Monticello, Paris†...

Vandenberg biographer Hank Meijer explores the lessons of Vandenberg’s statesmanship for our times. ...

November 14, 2012The Hauenstein Center teams up with the National Endowment for the Humanities and World Affairs Councils of America to present a national forum on Michigan’s most famous senator, Arthur Vandenberg. The Grand Rapids native was a principled Republican who knew how t ...