"Ask Not: John F. Kennedy and the Promise of Democracy," a lecture by Fredrik Logevall, Laurence D. Belfer Professor of International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School
and professor of history at Harvard University. John F. Kennedy was one of the iconic political figures of the 20th century, known universally by his initials. How should we understand Kennedy and his role in American and world politics, particularly in this time of rising challenges to democracy both at home and abroad? Join us as Pulitzer Prize-winning Harvard historian Fredrik Logevall explores JFK’s consequential leadership and why it matters for our current moment.
Free and open to the public; registration is required: REGISTER HERE.
Fredrik Logevall is a specialist on U.S. foreign relations history and modern international history. He was previously the Anbinder Professor of History at Cornell University, where he also served as vice provost and as the director of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies. Logevall is the author or editor of ten books, most recently JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917-1956 (Random House, 2020). His book Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America’s Vietnam (Random House, 2012), won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for History and the 2013 Francis Parkman Prize, as well as the 2013 American Library in Paris Book Award and the 2013 Arthur Ross Book Award from the Council on Foreign Relations. His other recent works include America’s Cold War: The Politics of Insecurity (with Campbell Craig; 2nd ed., Belknap/Harvard, 2020), and the college-level textbook A People and A Nation: A History of the United States (with Jane Kamensky et al; 11th ed., Cengage, 2018). A native of Stockholm, Sweden, Logevall holds a Ph.D. in history from Yale University. He is a past president of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations.
The Rutman Distinguished Lecture Series on the American Presidency is generously supported by J. Morgan Rutman ’84 and Tara Rutman. The lecture series focuses on American political history with an emphasis on the modern and historical context of the American Presidency.
This lecture will not be videotaped and videotaping is prohibited.