The Past, the Promise, the Presidency

This is Civics in the Classroom, a podcast series from the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Civics in the Classroom is part of the A250 Summer Teacher Seminar, America's First Principles. This program to promote innovative K-12 instruction in U.S. history and civics was designed by the Center for Presidential History with support from the U.S. Department of Education and in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. In the first year of this three-year project, our workshops and lectures will focus on the causes and context of the movement for U.S. independence and the production and legacy of its most famous document, the Declaration of Independence.  

This episode is the last in our series, and features a conversation with Dr. Liz Covart. Liz is a historian of the American Revolution, and while she wears many hats, she's probably best known as the creator of the award-winning podcast, Ben Franklin's World: a podcast about early American history. She is also the founding director of Colonial Williamsburg Innovation Studios, as well as co-founder of Clio Digital Media, a 501 C3 nonprofit that uses digital media to foster better, more robust understandings of history. And this year, she'll be launching Scholar DIY, a public benefit company that empowers scholars to transform their expertise into compelling digital stories. 

The music for this series comes from the album K2 by Blue Dot Sessions under an Attribution-NonCommercial License. 

This is Civics in the Classroom, a podcast series from the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Civics in the Classroom is part of the A250 Summer Teacher Seminar, America's First Principles. This program to promote innovative K-12 instruction in U.S. history and civics was designed by the Center for Presidential History with support from the U.S. Department of Education and in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. In the first year of this three-year project, our workshops and lectures will focus on the causes and context of the movement for U.S. independence and the production and legacy of its most famous document, the Declaration of Independence.  

This episode features a conversation with Dr. Lindsay Chervinksy. Lindsay is a presidential historian and the executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon. She's the author of the award-winning book The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution and Making the Presidency: John Adams and the Precedents that Forged the Republic. She regularly writes for public audiences in the Wall Street Journal, Ms., The Daily Beast, the Bulwark, Time, USA Today, CNN, and the Washington Post. She’s also a former CPH postdoctoral fellow! We talked about her work at Mount Vernon, why civics education matters, and how some memorable teachers shaped her career as a historian. 

The music for this series comes from the album K2 by Blue Dot Sessions under an Attribution-NonCommercial License. 

This is Civics in the Classroom, a podcast series from the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Civics in the Classroom is part of the A250 Summer Teacher Seminar, America's First Principles. This program to promote innovative K-12 instruction in U.S. history and civics was designed by the Center for Presidential History with support from the U.S. Department of Education and in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. In the first year of this three-year project, our workshops and lectures will focus on the causes and context of the movement for U.S. independence and the production and legacy of its most famous document, the Declaration of Independence.  

This episode features a conversation with Dr. Pearl Ponce, who is the director of the George W. Bush Presidential Library. Before she stepped into that role, Pearl was a professor at Ithaca College, where she served as chair of the history department for six years. She’s a political and diplomatic historian with a specialty in the Civil War era — and the author of To Govern the Devil in Hell: The Political Crisis in Territorial Kansas as well as the editor of Kansas's War: The Civil War in Documents. 

The music for this series comes from the album K2 by Blue Dot Sessions under an Attribution-NonCommercial License. 

This is Civics in the Classroom, a podcast series from the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Civics in the Classroom is part of the A250 Summer Teacher Seminar, America's First Principles. This program to promote innovative K-12 instruction in U.S. history and civics was designed by the Center for Presidential History with support from the U.S. Department of Education and in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. In the first year of this three-year project, our workshops and lectures will focus on the causes and context of the movement for U.S. independence and the production and legacy of its most famous document, the Declaration of Independence.  

This episode features a conversation with Patience LeBlanc, who will be joining us as master teacher this June for our summer teacher seminar. Patience earned her BA in history from Texas A&M and her MA in history from Texas Women's University, and has over 27 years of experience in teaching social studies. She’s taught at both the middle school and high school level, and has served as a consultant for many educational programs, including the Gilder Lerman Institute, where she's written curriculum and presented across the state and nation. We talked about her career as an educator and about the importance of teaching civics to K through 12 students. 

The music for this series comes from the album K2 by Blue Dot Sessions under an Attribution-NonCommercial License. 

This is Civics in the Classroom, a podcast series from the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Civics in the Classroom is part of the A250 Summer Teacher Seminar, America's First Principles. This program to promote innovative K-12 instruction in U.S. history and civics was designed by the Center for Presidential History with support from the U.S. Department of Education and in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. In the first year of this three-year project, our workshops and lectures will focus on the causes and context of the movement for U.S. independence and the production and legacy of its most famous document, the Declaration of Independence.  

This episode features a conversation between Drs. Kate Carte, Brian Franklin, and Ron Johnson, all of whom will be giving lectures this June as part of our A250 Summer Teacher Seminar. Their lectures will look at specific sections of the Declaration of Independence, as well as some other primary documents from the period. They’ll hone in language and phrasing, and in doing so break down how it is that we have come to understand the Declaration today. In the meantime, stay tuned for more episodes of Civics in the Classroom and more conversations about the lessons that U.S. history holds for the present.  

The music for this series comes from the album K2 by Blue Dot Sessions under an Attribution-NonCommercial License. 

This is Civics in the Classroom, a podcast series from the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Civics in the Classroom is part of the A250 Summer Teacher Seminar, America's First Principles. This program to promote innovative K-12 instruction in U.S. history and civics was designed by the Center for Presidential History with support from the U.S. Department of Education and in partnership with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. In the first year of this three-year project, our workshops and lectures will focus on the causes and context of the movement for U.S. independence and the production and legacy of its most famous document, the Declaration of Independence.  

This episode features Dr. Shilo Brooks, president and CEO of the George W. Bush Presidential Center and professor of practice in the Department of Political Science at SMU, in conversation with Dr. Jeffrey Engel, director of the Center for Presidential History. Together, they discuss their views of civics education, examine its relationship to history, and explain why understanding the country's foundational principles is crucial for developing informed and critical citizens. They'll both be joining us this June on campus for the first installment of our multi-year seminar series. In the meantime, stay tuned for more episodes of Civics in the Classroom and more conversations about the lessons that U.S. history holds for the present.  

The music for this series comes from the album K2 by Blue Dot Sessions under an Attribution-NonCommercial License. 

Welcome to “The Past, The Promise, the Presidency,” a podcast about the role of the presidency in American life. This week’s episode features veteran political reporter Susan Page, who will be giving a book talk on Wednesday, April 29th, at 6 pm in SMU’s McCord Auditorium (Dallas Hall 306). Susan’s most recent book, The Queen and Her Presidents: The Hidden Hand That Shaped History, chronicles the largely unknown story of Queen Elizabeth II’s relationship with thirteen American presidents, from Harry S. Truman to Donald J. Trump. Susan is interviewed by CPH student research assistant Kennedy Moore.

Susan Page is the award-winning Washington bureau chief of USA Today, where she writes about politics and the White House. She has covered eight White House administrations and twelve presidential elections. She has interviewed the past ten presidents and reported from six continents and dozens of foreign countries. Her previous bestselling books are The Matriarch: Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty; Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Lessons of Power; and The Rulebreaker: The Life and Times of Barbara Walters.

Kennedy Moore is a junior at SMU, double majoring in public policy and music with a minor in public policy and international affairs. Kennedy is a President's Scholar, Pre-law Scholar, and Meadows Scholar. At SMU, Kennedy is involved in Hegi Board Fellows, Meadows Chorale, the Tower Center's premier undergraduate research journal The Dialogue, and works at SMU's Center for Presidential History. Kennedy is interested in educational equity and national defense. She aspires to work for a federal agency to research and create policies to protect our education system and recenter citizens' voices in policy. 

Welcome to “The Past, The Promise, the Presidency,” a podcast about the role of the presidency in American life. This week’s episode features Dr. Frank Gavin, Giovanni Agnelli Distinguished Professor and the inaugural Director of the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C. Dr. Gavin visited Dallas in early April to speak to CPH's Article II Society members about his most recent book, Thinking Historically: A Guide to Statecraft and Strategy.  

Center for Presidential History Research Assistant Kennedy Moore was joined by Assistant Director Susie Penman for a conversation with Dr. Gavin.

Frank Gavin is the Giovanni Agnelli Distinguished Professor and the inaugural Director of the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C. He is also the chairman of the Board of Editors for the Texas National Security Review. He is a Senior Fellow at the Clements Center for National Security at the University of Texas, a Distinguished Scholar at the University of Texas Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law, and an affiliate of the Security Studies Program at MIT. He is the Co-Founder, Co-Director, and Principal Investigator, with James Steinberg, of the Carnegie International Policy Scholars Consortium and Network (IPSCON), and Founder and Director of the Nuclear Studies Research Initiative (NSRI). Gavin currently serves on the CIA Historical Panel and is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Kennedy Moore is a junior at SMU, double majoring in public policy and music with a minor in public policy and international affairs. Kennedy is a President's Scholar, Pre-law Scholar, and Meadows Scholar. At SMU, Kennedy is involved in Hegi Board Fellows, Meadows Chorale, the Tower Center's premier undergraduate research journal The Dialogue, and works at SMU's Center for Presidential History. Kennedy is interested in educational equity and national defense. She aspires to work for a federal agency to research and create policies to protect our education system and recenter citizens' voices in policy. 

Susie Penman is Assistant Director of the SMU Center for Presidential History. Her area of research is southern studies, with her doctoral work specifically focused on law and politics in New Orleans in the late 20th century. Her current manuscript project studies the office of Orleans Parish District Attorney Harry Connick, Sr., exploring how local ideas about crime and punishment shifted during the three decades that he served as DA. At the Center for Presidential History, she oversees all of CPH’s oral history projects.

Welcome to “The Past, The Promise, the Presidency,” a podcast about the role of the presidency in American life. This week’s episode features Dr. Katherine Epstein, professor of history at Rutgers-Camden. Dr. Epstein will be with us here at SMU this coming Thursday, March 12, to talk about her new book, Analog Superpowers: How Twentieth-Century Technology Theft Built the National-Security State.Analog Superpowers won the 2025 Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations Robert H. Ferrell (FERAL) Book Prize as well as the 2025 Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature.

Center for Presidential History Research Assistant, Kennedy Moore, was joined by Associate Director Brian Franklin for a conversation with Dr. Epstein.

Katherine Epstein is associate professor of history at Rutgers University-Camden and the author of Torpedo: Inventing the Military-Industrial Complex in the United States and Great Britain. 

Brian Franklin is the Associate Director of the SMU Center for Presidential History and an adjunct lecturer in the Clements Department of History and the University Honors Program. Dr. Franklin’s research focuses on the religious, political, and regional history of the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries. His current manuscript America’s Missions explores the role of Protestant mission societies in shaping the early American republic. He teaches courses on Texas History and American History.

Kennedy Moore is a junior at SMU, double majoring in public policy and music with a minor in public policy and international affairs. Kennedy is a President's Scholar, Pre-law Scholar, and Meadows Scholar. At SMU, Kennedy is involved in Hegi Board Fellows, Meadows Chorale, the Tower Center's premier undergraduate research journal The Dialogue, and works at SMU's Center for Presidential History. Kennedy is interested in educational equity and national defense. She aspires to work for a federal agency to research and create policies to protect our education system and recenter citizens' voices in policy. 

Welcome back to Season 5 of The Past, the Promise, The Presidency, which features brief interviews with historians about their newest books.

This episode features Dr. Ronald Angelo Johnson, Ralph & Bessie Mae Lynn Chair of History & Associate Professor at Baylor University. Dr. Johnson will be with us here at SMU this coming Monday, March 9, to talk about his new book, Entangled Alliances: Racialized Freedom and Atlantic Diplomacy During the American Revolution. Johnson offers an important and fascinating take on diplomatic history. His book explores relationships between concepts of “freedom” that animated nineteenth-century revolutions in present-day Haiti and the United States, while emphasizing the crucial roles of Black historical actors in both places. 

Center for Presidential History Research Assistant, Kennedy Moore, was joined by Assistant Director Susie Penman for a conversation with Dr. Johnson. 

Ronald Angelo Johnson holds the Ralph and Bessie Mae Lynn Chair of History at Baylor University, and specializes in early America, diplomacy, the African diaspora, and Haiti. Entangled Alliances (Cornell University Press, October 2025) is a reinterpretation of the American Revolution through analysis of diplomacy in the emerging United States during decades of hemispheric transformation. It brings to light the fascinating story of American patriots and rebels from Saint-Domingue (later Haiti) allying against European tyranny. Dr. Johnson is currently working on two book projects: the first, We Are All Equal: Turmoil and Triumph in the Early United States and Revolutionary Haiti (under contract with Princeton University Press), is a diplomatic history of race and revolution, illustrating that Americans and Haitians shared important understandings of liberty. The second, Shades of Color: Haitian Immigration and Black Identity in Early America, examines successive generations of Haitian immigrants to the United States from the Haitian Revolution throughout the nineteenth century.

Kennedy Moore is a junior at SMU, double majoring in public policy and music with a minor in public policy and international affairs. Kennedy is a President's Scholar, Pre-law Scholar, and Meadows Scholar. At SMU, Kennedy is involved in Hegi Board Fellows, Meadows Chorale, the Tower Center's premier undergraduate research journal The Dialogue, and works at SMU's Center for Presidential History. Kennedy is interested in educational equity and national defense. She aspires to work for a federal agency to research and create policies to protect our education system and recenter citizens' voices in policy. 

Susie Penman is Assistant Director of the SMU Center for Presidential History. Her area of research is southern studies, with her doctoral work specifically focused on law and politics in New Orleans in the late 20th century. Her current manuscript project studies the office of Orleans Parish District Attorney Harry Connick, Sr., exploring how local ideas about crime and punishment shifted during the three decades that he served as DA. At the Center for Presidential History, she oversees all of CPH’s oral history projects.