Presidential Historian Richard Norton Smith Granted Exclusive Bush Interview
January 20, 2009Print-Friendly Version
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 Richard Norton Smith |
Richard Norton Smith, Mason’s scholar-in-residence in the Departments of History and Art History and Public Policy, visited the White House yesterday, the last day of President George W. Bush’s term in office, for a historic interview.
Smith was requested by the White House to interview President Bush and his father, George Bush Sr., for an oral history that one day will be available in both men’s presidential libraries.
The former director of five presidential libraries, Smith has been extremely busy in the past few weeks leading up to Inauguration Day because of his expertise and knowledge of presidential history.
In the special Inauguration issue of Time magazine on newsstands now, Smith wrote an essay, “The Ghosts of ‘33,” which compares and contrasts two historic changes in presidential administration: the time when Franklin Roosevelt took office and now as Barack Obama takes office.
Smith will also appear live on ABC on inauguration day as the network’s official presidential historian. Later in the evening, he is providing coverage of the Inaugural Balls on C-SPAN.