Michael Beschloss

Presidential Historian Michael Beschloss paid a visit to Scranton this week, as a speaker in the Lackawanna County Library Lecture Series. He spoke for the better part of an hour, telling stories of the presidents he has written about in his books. He was charming, intelligent, and funny. If you ever have a chance to attend one of his lectures, be sure to go!

It was his first visit to what he called "the epicenter" of the 2008 presidential campaign, and he spent some time trading jokes with former Scranton Mayor Jim Connors about whether Scranton or Chicago had the worse reputation for political shenanigans. (In my opinion, Mayor Connors got off the best line, when he described someone who wants to be buried in Scranton when he dies, so he can remain active in politics.)

In the meantime, you may want to read his newest book, Presidential Courage, in which he describes moments in the lives of nine American Presidents when they had to choose between the right thing to do and the possibility of losing reelection. The vignettes are necessarily brief, but they provide insight into such events as Theodore Roosevelt's antitrust attack on the Northern Securities Company, Harry Truman's actions in the creation of the nation of Israel, and John F. Kennedy's support for the Civil Rights Act.