David Brooks, Ronald White to discuss "Character and the Presidency" at Hauenstein event

The office of the president has long represented a position that requires ethical and effective leadership in public service — two character traits that are fiercely debated between supporters and critics of President Donald Trump.

With Trump in the White House, character and the presidency is a timely and divisive topic, so Grand Valley State University's Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies will host distinguished political commentator David Brooks and best-selling presidential historian Ronald White for a discussion about the past, present and future of character and the American presidency.

This event,  David Brooks and Ronald C. White: Character and the Presidency,  will be streamed live to the Mary Idema Pew Library multipurpose room on October 3 at 7 p.m.

Brooks is a well-known political commentator and columnist for the New York Times and a commentator on NPR and PBS NewsHour. He has worked as a film critic for The Washington Times and has been a contributing editor at Newsweek and The Atlantic Monthly.

White is a best-selling author of books focusing on several American presidents. His latest, American Ulysses: A Life of Ulysses S. Grant was described as "the classic work on Ulysses S. Grant" by General David Petraeus (Ret.). He has published three books about Abraham Lincoln, including A. Lincoln: A Biography which was a New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times bestseller. White's op-ed pieces have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and Christian Science Monitor.

For more information, visit hauensteincenter.org.