Lecture: Do Americans Understand the U.S. Presidency?

On Thursday, September 17, Assumption will honor Constitution Day with a virtual event.  Beginning at 5 p.m., Stephen F. Knott, Ph.D. ’79, professor of national security affairs at the US Naval War College will speak on the distance we have drifted in our understanding of the American Presidency.  John Guerra ‘17, town hall program manager at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, will offer a response to Prof. Knott’s lecture. 

Prior to joining the US Naval War College in 2011, Prof. Knott served as a professor of public affairs and co-chaired the Presidential Oral History Program at the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.  His books include Secret and Sanctioned: Covert Operations and the American Presidency; Washington and Hamilton: The Alliance That Forged America; Rush to Judgment: George W. Bush, the War on Terror, and His Critics; and his most recent book, The Lost Soul of the American Presidency: The Decline into Demagoguery and the Prospects for Renewal. He is currently working on a book regarding the presidency of John F. Kennedy. Prof. Knott holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Assumption and a Ph.D. in political science from Boston College. 

Following his graduation from Assumption with a bachelor’s degree in political science and philosophy, Guerra earned his master’s degree in political science from Villanova University. He joined the National Constitution Center in August 2019 and has served as a program assistant for the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge for the last two years, where he manages programs for high school students. 

The event will take place virtually via Zoom. It is sponsored by the Assumption University Department of Political Science and made possible by a grant from the Jack Miller Center in New York City.