American Presidents: Behind the Scenes With America’s Leaders

Learn from five remarkable professors in this set of One Day University presentations on the great American presidents.

The framers of the Constitution were in uncharted territory when they created the office of the presidency. No one at that time had a clear vision of what the president of a national republic would do, and only the vaguest notion existed when George Washington took the oath in 1789. For nearly 250 years, our elected Presidents have played a role in shaping what the office has become. Thomas Jefferson described the presidency as a “splendid misery,” John Quincy Adams felt it was “harassing,” and Warren Harding said simply “It’s hell!” And yet somehow some of our most notable Presidents left office with remarkable accomplishments.