Barack Obama

‘I developed a sense of the enormous, great luck in managing to survive, giving me a strong feeling that I had an obligation to pay it forward’

As he prepares to retire, Laurence Tribe retraces his path from teen immigrant math whiz to leading constitutional law scholar and admired professor

Campus|

DateJune 24, 2020September 8, 2020

David McCraw, lead attorney for The New York Times newsroom.

Defending The Times in a perilous age

Lead newsroom attorney details changes since 9/11, dangers facing reporters, and rise in hostility against media led by White House

World|

DateApril 28, 2020April 28, 2020

Obama: In trying times, truth first

At virtual seminar with municipal leaders, stresses that clear communication is vital during pandemic

World|

DateApril 10, 2020April 16, 2020

What makes for a moral foreign policy?

Joseph Nye’s new book rates the efforts of presidents from FDR to Trump

World|

DateJanuary 21, 2020

Flight from reason

Thomas Patterson looks at the threat to Democracy in ‘How America Lost Its Mind’

World|

DateJanuary 17, 2020February 7, 2020

Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian (right) recounts his 544 days in an Iranian prison during a talk with R. Nicholas Burns of the Harvard Kennedy School.

A ‘Prisoner’ story

Reporters Jason and Yeganeh Rezaian recount ordeal in Iranian prison

World|

DateFebruary 8, 2019February 12, 2019

John Kerry, still in the game

In Harvard visit, he addresses nation’s problems, prospects

World|

DateNovember 28, 2018November 28, 2018

Reflections of an envoy

Caroline Kennedy recalls her years representing U.S. in Japan

World|

DateNovember 28, 2018November 29, 2018

Learning while leading at Harvard Law Review

Michael Thomas Jr. makes a strong argument for rewards of his role as publication’s 132nd president

Campus|

DateNovember 26, 2018November 28, 2018

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper says he felt compelled to speak out about President Trump and the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

The worries over U.S. intelligence

Clapper, leader in field, frets over past damage, present shortcomings, future threats

World|

DateJune 22, 2018June 21, 2018

Kennedy School graduates Guillaume Liegey (left) and Brune Poirson discuss their experience guiding Emmanuel Macron to victory just weeks after graduating. Arthur Goldhammer (right) also participated in the event. Kris Snibbe/Harvard Staff Photographer

An electoral French revolution

Young Kennedy School grads explain how what they learned here helped them win key races there

World|

DateSeptember 27, 2017July 26, 2019

Pete Souza, former White House photographer for Presidents Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama, joined Ann Marie Lipinski at the JFK Jr. Forum to discuss his time photographing the First Families.

The Obama years, in photos

Former White House photographer reflects on his time with the first family

World|

DateSeptember 22, 2017September 22, 2017

Former Democratic speechwriter Sarah Hurwitz '99, J.D. '04 speaks about how she learned to "write to be heard" and her plans for her fellowship at the Institute of Politics.

The writer behind the speeches

Sarah Hurwitz, former White House wordsmith, says the best remarks echo the person delivering them

World|

DateMarch 9, 2017December 10, 2018

Russia’s alleged involvement in the U.S. election, the brewing friction between the incoming president and intelligence community, and the implications that those contentious issues have for U.S.-Russia relations, was the focus of a discussion with Kevin Ryan, a retired Army brigadier general and director of the Belfer Center’s Defense and Intelligence Projects at Harvard Kennedy School.

Inside the hacked U.S. election

An analyst on Russian security issues explains how the U.S. probe likely played out, and where it may yet lead

World|

DateDecember 14, 2016December 15, 2016

A two-day symposium bought together analysts, practitioners, and activists to consider Obama’s legacy.

Impact of the nation’s first black president

HKS panel considers race and justice in Obama era

World|

DateOctober 14, 2016March 7, 2019

Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk (right) and Judge Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama’s choice to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. The GOP freeze has recently shown signs of thawing, as more than a dozen Senate Republicans have said they would meet with Garland.

No hearing for Garland, but plenty of noise

High stakes on both sides in nomination standoff, analysts say

World|

DateApril 4, 2016March 7, 2019

President Obama's visit to Cuba represents the culmination of his efforts to re-establish ties with the island nation, according to Harvard scholars.

Obama in Havana

As president’s tenure wanes, visit allows him to cement policies

World|

DateMarch 19, 2016March 7, 2019

This month, Bob Schieffer begins a three-semester appointment as the Walter Shorenstein Media and Democracy Fellow at the Shorenstein Center for Media, Politics, and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School, where he will focus on the 2016 presidential election.

That first draft of history

As he heads to Harvard, veteran CBS correspondent Bob Schieffer reflects on half a century covering the news

World|

DateSeptember 11, 2015

President Barack Obama announced Wednesday that the United States and Cuba will re-establish diplomatic and economic relations, ending a political stalemate that began more than half a century ago.

U.S.-Cuba ties: In from the cold

Relaxing decades of sanctions while encouraging trade will benefit both sides, analysts say

World|

DateDecember 17, 2014May 15, 2019

Anthony Saich, who serves as faculty chair of Harvard Kennedy School’s China program, said the positive assessment the Chinese have of Xi’s performance — both at home and abroad — is explained by a multitude of factors. “One is that they don’t hear much negative news about their national government; it’s all positive,” he explained.

Grading 10 top world leaders

China’s Xi and Germany’s Merkel best-rated in rare international survey

World|

DateDecember 17, 2014March 15, 2019

Even with a major Republican sweep, "It will be difficult for either party to enact major changes, because Democrats in the Senate are perfectly capable of stopping bills from passing," according to David King, a senior lecturer in public policy. "Procedurally, it is unlikely that President Obama will be signing many Republican 'stand-alone' bills, and he’ll be ready to use his veto pen."

Power shift

Kennedy School’s King assesses the post-midterm landscape

World|

DateNovember 6, 2014April 17, 2019

Barbara Walters covered decades in journalism in a conversation with David Gergen at the Kennedy School.

Answers from Walters

Famed journalist shares impressions from long career of interrogating power

World|

DateOctober 8, 2014May 2, 2019

In a panel talk moderated by Harvard Law School Professor Noah Feldman (from left), Meghan O'Sullivan, Nicholas Burns, and Michael Ignatieff assessed the global threat now posed by the Sunni jihadist group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Cruel summer

Violence in the Middle East and what it means for the future

World|

DateSeptember 11, 2014June 6, 2019

"The system is ill-suited to the needs of today’s returning veteran population," said Linda Bilmes, the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Senior Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. "This VA system was set up a long time ago in a different era, pre-Internet, pre-all-volunteer force, and at a time when far fewer troops survived injuries."

Disarray at the VA

Kennedy School’s Bilmes has pragmatic proposals for presidential commission, system overhaul

World|

DateJune 6, 2014October 6, 2016

“Unfortunately, the global … framework for nuclear security is quite weak,” said Matthew Bunn, professor of practice at Harvard Kennedy School and co-principal investigator for the Project on Managing the Atom, a nuclear research and policy program at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

Our nuclear insecurity

Preventing terrorists from seizing bomb materials is still an ad-hoc global effort

World|

DateMarch 12, 2014May 15, 2019

President Barack Obama laughs with Robert Putnam as he awards him the 2012 National Humanities Medal during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House on Wednesday.

Robert Putnam receives National Humanities Medal

Former Overseer and School of Design faculty member also received honors

News|

DateJuly 10, 2013March 18, 2019

“Over the years, our surveys have shown a pretty high percentage of millennials, 18- to 29-year-olds, are comfortable with same-sex relationships … Some of the hesitation that you hear sometimes from younger voters with wanting to embrace the Republican Party is this particular issue. It’s not abortion … this is one where there’s a clear break,” said Trey Grayson (right), director of Harvard’s Institute of Politics. Also offering insight on the shift in support of same-sex marriage were Carr Center program director Timothy McCarthy and Harvard’s Professor Theda Skocpol.

Tracking a cultural shift

Harvard analysts examine high court rulings, as well as rising societal support for legalizing same-sex marriage

World|

DateJune 25, 2013March 21, 2019

“We are under no illusions that this will be easy, but substantial gains have been made,” said Afghan diplomat Salahuddin Rabbani (left) in a conversation with James Warlick (right), the U.S. deputy special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

A path out of violence

Diplomats see gains in Afghanistan as first steps toward stability

World|

DateApril 5, 2013May 17, 2019

In a talk at the JFK Jr. Forum, Jon Favreau (left), the former director of speechwriting at the White House, told Professor David Gergen that as a speechwriter “your only goals are to clearly explain simple policies in as little words as possible, and then spend as much time as you can … inspiring people."

Reading the president’s mind

Longtime Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau reflects on rhetoric at Harvard Kennedy School

World|

DateMarch 28, 2013April 30, 2019

Harvard graduate and physics major Michelangelo D'Agostino (left) gives graduate students Yat Shan Au and Tom Dimiduk an overview of the wide-ranging role that data analytics played in Obama's presidential campaign.

Crunching data in the campaign cave

A Renaissance scientist explains how he helped Obama win re-election

World|

DateMarch 5, 2013May 17, 2019

Page 1 of 4

As he prepares to retire, Laurence Tribe retraces his path from teen immigrant math whiz to leading constitutional law scholar and admired professor

Lead newsroom attorney details changes since 9/11, dangers facing reporters, and rise in hostility against media led by White House

At virtual seminar with municipal leaders, stresses that clear communication is vital during pandemic

Joseph Nye’s new book rates the efforts of presidents from FDR to Trump

Thomas Patterson looks at the threat to Democracy in ‘How America Lost Its Mind’

Reporters Jason and Yeganeh Rezaian recount ordeal in Iranian prison

In Harvard visit, he addresses nation’s problems, prospects

Caroline Kennedy recalls her years representing U.S. in Japan

Michael Thomas Jr. makes a strong argument for rewards of his role as publication’s 132nd president

Clapper, leader in field, frets over past damage, present shortcomings, future threats

Young Kennedy School grads explain how what they learned here helped them win key races there

Former White House photographer reflects on his time with the first family

Sarah Hurwitz, former White House wordsmith, says the best remarks echo the person delivering them

An analyst on Russian security issues explains how the U.S. probe likely played out, and where it may yet lead

HKS panel considers race and justice in Obama era

High stakes on both sides in nomination standoff, analysts say

As president’s tenure wanes, visit allows him to cement policies

As he heads to Harvard, veteran CBS correspondent Bob Schieffer reflects on half a century covering the news

Relaxing decades of sanctions while encouraging trade will benefit both sides, analysts say

China’s Xi and Germany’s Merkel best-rated in rare international survey

Kennedy School’s King assesses the post-midterm landscape

Famed journalist shares impressions from long career of interrogating power

Violence in the Middle East and what it means for the future

Kennedy School’s Bilmes has pragmatic proposals for presidential commission, system overhaul

Preventing terrorists from seizing bomb materials is still an ad-hoc global effort

Former Overseer and School of Design faculty member also received honors

Harvard analysts examine high court rulings, as well as rising societal support for legalizing same-sex marriage

Diplomats see gains in Afghanistan as first steps toward stability

Longtime Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau reflects on rhetoric at Harvard Kennedy School

A Renaissance scientist explains how he helped Obama win re-election

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