Best-selling author talks about President Lincoln

Historian and best-selling author Ronald C. White, Jr. believes President Lincoln was the most likable president, lacking Washington’s aloofness and the deviousness of FDR and Jefferson.

White will give a presentation about Lincoln Tuesday, February 16, at 7:30 p.m., at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, 303 Pearl St., Grand Rapids. His visit is sponsored the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies and the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, Museum and Foundation.

White will use some of Lincoln’s private papers to show how Lincoln matured and guided the nation through the “four worst years of its existence.” He offers a personal account of Lincoln’s life of leadership and service. The event is free and open to the public.

A follow-up roundtable discussion will be held Wednesday, February 17, noon-1 p.m. in the Cabinet Room at the Ford Presidential Museum. Panelists include Gleaves Whitney, director of the Hauenstein Center; Brian Flanagan, associate director of the Hauenstein Center; Scott Stabler, GVSU assistant professor of history; and Jim Kratsas, deputy director of the Ford Presidential Museum.

For more information, contact the Hauenstein Center at (616) 331-2770, or visit www.allpresidents.org.

BACKGROUND
Ronald C. White, Jr. is the author of A. Lincoln: A Biography, published in January 2009 and a New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times bestseller. White is also the author of Lincoln’s Greatest Speech: The Second Inaugural (2002) and The Eloquent President: A Portrait of Lincoln Through His Words (2005).

White is a graduate of UCLA and Princeton Theological Seminary. He earned a doctorate in religion and history from  Princeton University. He has taught at UCLA, Princeton Theological Seminary, Whitworth University, Colorado College and San Francisco Theological Seminary, where he served as dean and professor of American religious history. White is presently a Fellow at the Huntington Library and visiting professor of history at UCLA.