Pulitzer Prize winning historian to discuss 'John F. Kennedy and the Promise of Democracy' on March 2

The 44th annual Costa Lecture features Fredrik Logevall, 2013 winner of the Pulitzer Prize in History, on Thursday, March 2, at 7 p.m. in Baker University Center 240/242.

Logevall will discuss "John F. Kennedy and the Promise of Democracy."

John F. Kennedy was one of the iconic political figures of the 20th century, and was a man known the world over by his initials. Since long before he entered politics, Kennedy had been fascinated by the nature and demands of leadership, particularly in a democracy, and by the question of what constitutes political courage. Later, as a U.S. senator, he wondered aloud about how elected officials could reconcile their sense of the nation’s interests with the often fickle demands of their constituents. The question, JFK suggested, went to the core of democratic governance. How should we understand Kennedy and his role in U.S. and world politics, particularly during this time of rising threats to democracy both at home and abroad?

“I can’t think of a more timely subject than American democracy nor a better historian to engage that subject than Logevall,” said Chester Pach, associate professor of history in the College of Arts and Sciences at Ohio University. Pach also noted that two Pulitizer Prize winners are speaking at OHIO on consecutive days: Bob Woodward on March 1, and Logevall on March 2.  

This lecture is free and open to the public. A pre-lecture reception with refreshments and book signing begins at 6 p.m.

Logevall is the Laurence D. Belfer Professor of International Affairs at the John F. Kennedy School of Government and Professor of History at Harvard University. He is the author of "Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America’s Vietnam," for which he won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize, and "JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917-1956."

The lecture is sponsored by the History Department thanks to the generosity of Ohio University alumna Helen Coast Hayes (class of 1926).