Constitutional Powers and Limits of the Presidency with Lara Brown | BRI Scholar Talks

20+ minute interviews with modern authors and scholars on topics of U.S. History and Civics.

What were Abraham Lincoln’s views on race and freedom and equality for Black Americans? In this episode of Scholar Talks, Jon White, associate professor of American Studies at Christopher Newport University and prize-winning historian and author, joins BRI Senior Teaching Fellow Tony Williams to discuss his two books, "A House Built by Slaves: African American Visitors to the Lincoln White House" and "To Address You as My Friend: African Americans’ Letters to Abraham Lincoln." Together, they talk about Lincoln’s policies and personal relationships with African Americans during his time in office. How did Lincoln’s views shape his presidency and his relationship with African Americans?

BRI Senior Teaching Fellow Tony Williams sits down with Jonathan White, associate professor of American Studies at Christopher Newport University and author of several books on the Civil War, to discuss his essay on the presidential election of 1824 in our new digital history textbook, Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Together, they piece together the historical background behind one of the most contentious elections in American history. In 1824, none of the four candidates—Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, or William Crawford—were able to obtain a majority of the Electoral College vote. The Twelfth Amendment required the election be sent to the U.S. House of Representatives, where John Quincy Adams was chosen as the sixth U.S. president. Can we learn any lessons about democracy from contentious elections? Was the election a crisis or a demonstration of the successful workings of constitutional principles? About Jonathan White: Jonathan White is an associate professor of American Studies at Christopher Newport University and is the author or editor of ten books, including "Abraham Lincoln and Treason in the Civil War: The Trials of John Merryman and Emancipation" and "Emancipation, the Union Army, and the Reelection of Abraham Lincoln," which was a finalist for both the Lincoln Prize and the winner of the Abraham Lincoln Institute’s 2015 book prize. He serves on the Boards of Directors of the Abraham Lincoln Institute, the Abraham Lincoln Association, the Lincoln Forum, and the John L. Nau III Center for Civil War History at the University of Virginia. His most recent books include "Lincoln on Law, Leadership and Life" and “Our Little Monitor: The Greatest Invention of the Civil War." He is presently writing a biography of a convicted slave trader named Appleton Oaksmith. Check out his website at www.jonathanwhite.org/ or follow him on Twitter at @CivilWarJon.

How did President Reagan help win the Cold War?