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We the People

America’s Most Consequential Elections: From FDR to Reagan

We the People

National Constitution Center

History, News Commentary, News

4.61K Ratings

🗓️ 18 April 2024

⏱️ 61 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Michael Gerhardt, author of the new book FDR’s Mentors: Navigating the Path to Greatness, and Andrew Busch, author of Reagan's Victory: The Presidential Election of 1980 and the Rise of the Right, join Jeffrey Rosen to explore the pivotal elections of 1932 and 1980. They compare the transformative presidencies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, and trace how founding-era debates between Hamilton and Jefferson over the scope of federal and executive power re-emerged during the New Deal and Reagan Revolution. This program originally streamed live on April 16, 2024. Resources: Michael J. Gerhardt, FDR’s Mentors: Navigating the Path to Greatness (2024) Andrew E. Busch, Ronald Reagan and the Politics of Freedom (2001) Andrew E. Busch, Reagan's Victory: The Presidential Election of 1980 and the Rise of the Right (2005) Andrew E. Busch, The Constitution on the Campaign Trail: The Surprising Political Career of America’s Founding Document (2007) Friedrich Hayek, “The Road to Serfdom,” Teaching American History (May 21, 2020) Ronald Reagan, Remarks to Commonwealth Club members on March 4, 1983, Reagan Library (July 19, 2018) Franklin D. Roosevelt, Undelivered Address Prepared for Jefferson Day, The American Presidency Project Questions or comments about the show? Email us at [email protected].   Continue today’s conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr.  Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly.  You can find transcripts for each episode on the podcast pages in our Media Library.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello friends. I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National

0:06.0

Constitution Center and welcome to We The People weekly show of

0:09.4

constitutional debate. The National Constitution Center is a nonpartisan nonprofit chartered by Congress

0:15.1

to increase awareness and understanding of the Constitution among the American people.

0:20.4

This week I'm joined by Michael Gerhart of UNC School of Law and Andrew Bush of

0:25.8

Claremont McKenna College to discuss Michael's new book, FDR's mentors, navigating the

0:30.6

path to greatness, as well as several several of Andrews books about President Reagan.

0:35.2

We explored the elections of 1932 and 1980, which elected President Roosevelt and Reagan,

0:42.8

how Roosevelt and Reagan transformed the Constitution

0:46.4

and how they shaped America.

0:48.2

I'm excited to share the conversation.

0:50.1

Enjoy the show. Hello friends, welcome to the National Constitution Center and to today's convening

0:58.8

of America's Town Hall.

1:00.5

I'm Jeffrey Rosen, the president and CEO of this wonderful institution.

1:04.0

Let's inspire ourselves as always by reciting together the National Constitution

1:09.2

Center's mission statement. Here we go. The National Constitution

1:12.6

centers the only institution in America charted by Congress to

1:16.4

increase awareness and understanding of the US Constitution

1:19.4

among the American people on a nonpartisan basis. Those inspiring words came from the

1:24.6

Bicentennial Heritage Act of 1988, the year after the Bicentennial of the

1:30.3

Constitution, the act was signed by President Ronald Reagan and we're here today to discuss of the

1:35.0

Act was signed by President Ronald Reagan, and we're here today to discuss the constitutional

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