Six People Who Built America
Jeremi Suri holds the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a professor in the University’s Department of History and the LBJ School of Public Affairs. A popular public lecturer and frequent news commentator, his writings appear in The New York Times, the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, CNN.com, The Atlantic, Newsweek, Time, and other media. Professor Suri has received the President’s Associates Teaching Excellence Award from the University of Texas and the Pro Bene Meritis Award for Contributions to the Liberal Arts. Professor Suri hosts the weekly podcast, “This is Democracy,” and is the author and editor of eleven books, including: The Impossible Presidency: The Rise and Fall of America’s Highest Office; Liberty’s Surest Guardian: American Nation-Building from the Founders to Obama; and Henry Kissinger and the American Century. His most recent book is entitled: Civil War by Other Means: America’s Long and Unfinished Fight for Democracy.
Overview
The People Who Built America
The years between the Civil War and the Second World War marked the emergence of the United States as the wealthiest and strongest nation in the world. America’s extraordinary rise was unpredictable, difficult, and often close to disaster. A diverse group of citizens made key decisions to transform the country. This lecture will focus on the two most important presidents of this period, Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt. We will see how their leadership interacted with innovators in industry and society, especially John D. Rockefeller and Jane Addams.
The lecture will also focus on ground-breaking educators and entrepreneurs of the period, particularly Booker T. Washington and Henry Ford. These larger-than-life personalities shaped an era, and the essential course of American history. Examining this history helps us to understand our own world better, and what it will take to renew American society in coming years.
Learn more about our history by checking out other great videos at OneDayU, including ‘The Power of Literature In a Time of Crisis‘, The History of The Woodstock Festival’ & ‘Why Is Frank Sinatra Famous’ all on-demand now.