November 21, 2024
Unity Temple on the Plaza
I WANT THE PEOPLE TO KNOW THE PRESIDENCY AS I HAVE EXPERIENCED IT.
HARRY S. TRUMAN
The Truman Library Institute Proudly Presents
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS AND THE CHALLENGE OF DEMOCRACY
Thursday, November 21, 2024 Unity Temple on the Plaza Kansas City, Missouri
PANELISTS
Nancy Gibbs
Michael Duffy
MODERATOR
David Von Drehle
A question-and-answer session will follow this evening’s program. To submit your questions for the panel, please use the enclosed card. Ushers will collect cards prior to the Q&A. Be sure to write legibly to ensure your question can be read by the moderator. We’ll do our best to address as many questions as time allows.
SAVE THE DATE
26TH ANNUAL FUNDRAISING EVENT
THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2025
MUEHLEBACH TOWER, KANSAS CITY MARRIOTT DOWNTOWN
Save the date for WILD ABOUT HARRY—the premier event celebrating and advancing Harry S. Truman’s presidential legacy and library.
Held at the historic Muehlebach Hotel—President Truman’s hometown political headquarters—WILD ABOUT HARRY attracts nearly 800 guests annually and features exciting sponsor benefits, a VIP patrons’ party, underwriters’ reception, social hour and open bar, live music, a chef-curated three-course dinner and much more.
Plan now to be part of this WILD-ly popular event. Your support is vital. Each year, funds raised at WILD ABOUT HARRY help open the doors to tens of thousands of teachers and students. They are counting on the civics and history programs at the Truman Library, just as America is counting on their service to community and country.
PANELISTS
Nancy Gibbs
Nancy Gibbs is the director of the Shorenstein Center and the Edward R. Murrow Professor of Practice of Press, Politics and Public Policy. Until September 2017, she was editor in chief of TIME, directing news and feature coverage across all platforms for more than 65 million readers worldwide. Gibbs was named TIME’s 17th editor in September 2013, the first woman to hold the position, and remains an editor at large. During her three decades at the magazine, she covered four presidential campaigns and is the author of more cover stories than any writer in TIME’s near 100-year history, including the black-bordered “September 11” special issue, which won the National Magazine Award in 2002. Gibbs has also served as a consultant to CBS News and an essayist for the News Hour on PBS. She is the co-author, along with Michael Duffy, of two best-selling presidential histories. She has interviewed five U.S. presidents and multiple other world leaders, and lectured extensively on the American presidency. She is a Senior Fellow at the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and Policy.
MODERATOR
Michael Duffy
Michael Duffy is opinions editor at large at The Washington Post, where he has worked since December 2018. Before joining The Post, he spent 33 years at TIME magazine as a correspondent and editor, covering the Pentagon, Congress, the White House and national security. He is the coauthor, with Nancy Gibbs, of two New York Times best-selling histories, including The Presidents Club: Inside the World’s Most Exclusive Fraternity.
David Von Drehle
David Von Drehle is a deputy opinion editor and columnist for The Washington Post where he writes about national affairs and politics. He joined The Post in 2017 after a decade at TIME magazine, where he wrote more than 60 cover stories as editor at large. He is the author of a number of books, including Rising to Greatness: Abraham Lincoln and America’s Most Perilous Year; the awardwinning bestseller Triangle: The Fire That Changed America; and most recently, New York Times bestseller The Book of Charlie.
THE HOWARD AND VIRGINIA BENNETT FORUM ON THE PRESIDENCY
INFORMED, SUBSTANTIVE, CIVIL DISCUSSIONS ON THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY SINCE 2007
GENEROUSLY ENDOWED BY Mary (Bennett) Johnston 1939-2012 Michael Johnston 1938-2024
TRANSFORMATIVE GIFT LAUNCHED ANNUAL FORUM ON THE PRESIDENCY
“Being a president is like riding a tiger,” Harry Truman said. “You have to keep on riding or be swallowed.”
Thomas Jefferson called America’s highest office “a splendid misery,” and Warren G. Harding famously exclaimed, “My God, this is a hell of a job.”
President Truman understood that the future of American democracy depended, in part, on an informed understanding of our government, and on the presidency, in particular. In 1957, he dedicated his presidential library to this cause, calling it a “classroom for democracy” for future generations.
Fifty years later, a visionary gift from Michael and Mary (Bennett) Johnston advanced that mission with the creation of an endowed lecture series, The Howard & Virginia Bennett Forum on the Presidency.
L to R: Judy Bennett, Faye Ollis, Mike Johnston, Mary (Bennett) Johnston, Larry Ollis, Ginny (Johnston) Crisci at the 2011 Forum
The series was borne out of a chance meeting in Aspen, Colorado, between Mary Johnston and Beth K. Smith, a longtime friend of President Truman’s library and legacy.
The two discovered a mutual connection to President Truman: Mary Johnston’s father, Howard Bennett, was one of several influential individuals dedicated to the founding of the Truman Library more than 50 years earlier.
Traveling home from Colorado, Mary and Mike Johnston visited the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum. A few years ago, in his opening remarks for the 2021 Forum, Mike recalled that first visit:
“During our tour of the archives, I saw a handwritten note from President Truman to a donor who was offering funds in the establishment of the Library. It struck a personal interest in me.
“The note said that the president didn’t want his library to be about him. He wanted it to be about the presidency of the United States, a position he considered to be the most important executive office of government in the world.”
Mike and Mary were inspired by Truman’s vision. Already deeply involved in supporting organizations in the areas of education, the environment, arts and democratic principles, the couple decided to endow a lecture series that would help fulfill President Truman’s vision.
In 2008, former Lyndon Johnson aide and legendary journalist Bill Moyers launched The Howard and Virginia Bennett Forum on the Presidency with a panel discussion on presidential power, presciently asking, “How much is too much?”
Since that inaugural event, the Forum has featured the likes of Ted Sorensen, Madeleine Albright, Donald Rumsfeld, Jon Meacham, Michael Beschloss, Doris Kearns Goodwin and Douglas Brinkley, to name a few.
Now in its 18th year, as a new American president prepares to take office, the conversation continues.
Endowment gifts come in all shapes and sizes and ensure that your values and the programs you care about will continue into the future. There are many ways to create your legacy. To learn more, please contact Kim Rausch, Director of Development, at 816.400.1214 or Kim.Rausch@TrumanLibraryInstitute.org. Continued from previous page
THE HOWARD AND VIRGINIA BENNETT FORUM ON THE PRESIDENCY
2007 | PRESIDENTIAL POWER: HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH?
Bill Moyers, Michael Beschloss, Timothy Naftali, Elizabeth Spaulding
2008 | THE MEDIA AND THE PRESIDENCY: PLAYING POLITICS
Ted Sorensen, Scott Simon, Timothy Naftali, Costas Panagopoulos
2009 | PRESIDENTIAL LEADERSHIP IN TRANSFORMATIONAL TIMES
Arianna Huffington, Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Robert Kuttner, Timothy Naftali
2010 | PRESIDENTS AT WAR: KOREA TO AFGHANISTAN
Bob Kerrey, Andrew Bacevich, Senator Evan Bayh, Douglas Brinkley
2011 | PRESIDENTIAL POWER ABROAD: TRUMAN TO OBAMA
Madeleine Albright, Bob Kerrey, Leslie Gelb, Chuck Hagel
2012 | PRESIDENTS, CONGRESS AND THE CONFLICT OF POWER
Marvin Kalb, Margaret Hoover, Timothy Naftali, Jim Slattery
2013 | AMERICAN PRESIDENTS AND THEIR CABINETS
Bob Kerrey, Donald Rumsfeld, William S. Cohen, David Von Drehle
2014 | AN EVENING WITH BILL MOYERS
With Special Guest Bob Kerrey
2015 | LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE
Doris Kearns Goodwin with Bill Moyers
2016 | PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS AND THE FUTURE OF AMERICA’S DEMOCRACY
Jane Mayer, Douglas Brinkley, David Von Drehle
2017 | THE PRESIDENCY IN THE POST-TRUTH ERA
Doris Kearns Goodwin with David Von Drehle
2018 | PRESIDENTIAL POWER IN TIMES OF CRISIS
Michael Beschloss, Jane Mayer, David Von Drehle
2019 | AMERICA’S GREATEST PRESIDENTS
Senator Jeff Flake, Doris Kearns Goodwin, David Von Drehle
2020 | PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
Jon Meacham with David Von Drehle
2021 | ON DEMOCRACY
Heather Cox Richardson with David Von Drehle
2022 | THE AMERICAN STRUGGLE
Jon Meacham with David Von Drehle
2023 | TRUMAN AND CIVIL RIGHTS
Robin Givhan, Terrence A. Adams, Richard Gergel, Adriane Lentz-Smith
TRUMAN TRAVELERS
FALL 2025
LIBERATION & LEGACY
8-Day Tour of Belgium
HIGHLIGHTS
• Brussels, Ypres and Bastogne
• NATO Headquarters
• Truman Hall, Residence of the U.S. Ambassador to NATO
• Professional tour operator and custom itinerary
• Estimated cost: $5,000, plus airfare and incidentals
ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME EXCURSION
Join friends of the Truman Library Institute for an extraordinary travel opportunity to Belgium. On this 8-day adventure, immerse yourself in history and culture as we explore Flanders Fields in Ypres, the battles of Dunkirk, the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne, and other WWI and WWII sites. Your custom itinerary includes special access tours at NATO Headquarters and Truman Hall, the residence of the U.S. Ambassador to NATO. To learn more or reserve your place, please contact Morgan Jorgensen at Morgan.Jorgensen@TrumanLibraryInstitute.org.
TRUMAN LIBRARY INSTITUTE
OUR VISION People are inspired, enriched and empowered through the many resources of the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum.
OUR MISSION To bring the life and legacy of Harry S. Truman to bear on current and future generations through the understanding of history, the presidency, domestic and foreign policy, and citizenship.
THE HOWARD & VIRGINIA BENNETT FORUM ON THE PRESIDENCY
Established in 2006 by Mary and Michael Johnston, The Howard & Virginia Bennett Forum on the Presidency commemorates Howard Bennett’s role in the founding of the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum while helping tell the complex story of our nation’s highest office, the American presidency.