Hauenstein Center director explores secrets of Constitutional Convention

Gleaves Whitney, director of Grand Valley State University’s Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies, will discuss lessons learned from the 1787 Constitutional Convention and how they apply to bipartisanship, or lack thereof, in Washington today at an event on September 13. 

Whitney will present “The Untold Story of the Constitutional Convention” at 7 p.m., on September 13, at the Ford Presidential Museum. An RSVP is requested for the event, and can be provided at www.allpresidents.org.

“If citizens think politics are nasty nowadays, they were arguably nastier in 1787 when America’s new frame of government was bruited about,” Whitney said. “The statesmen who debated the architecture of freedom were not above petty politics, yet somehow they sorted through their personality differences and diverse regional interests to compromise on the essentials. 

“The convention offers valuable lessons in bipartisanship that desperately need heeding today.”

Whitney will address the challenges the founders faced on their historic mission of creating a New Republic.

The event is part of Grand Valley State University’s efforts to recognize Constitution Day.

For more information on this event, visit allpresidents.org.