Tag: Barack Obama

  • Nation & World

    Health care could swing voters

    A new analysis of 37 national opinion polls conducted by 17 survey organizations finds that health care is the second most important issue for likely voters in deciding their 2012 presidential vote. This is the highest that health care has been ranked as a presidential election issue since 1992.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    A peek behind the podium

    Veteran political strategists weighed in on the blood, sweat, and tears that go into prepping a presidential candidate, during a Harvard Kennedy School watch party for the first presidential debate. The vice presidential debate is 9-10 p.m. Oct. 11 from Centre College, Danville, Ky. The second presidential debate is 9-10:30 p.m. Oct. 16, Hofstra University…

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Inside-out look at election 2012

    Hosted by the Nieman Foundation, a panel of political journalists shared their insights with Harvard faculty members, including their predictions about the outcome in the race for the White House.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Win for Obama, but no let-up in debate

    The U.S. Supreme Court decision on Thursday upholding the basis of national health care reform is far from the last word on the topic, Harvard faculty members said, and merely raises the curtain on act two: November’s general election.

    6 minutes
  • Nation & World

    In support of the generalist

    Andrew Delbanco, social critic and recipient of the National Humanities Award, warned in a speech that the shift of American higher education away from its liberal arts traditions undermines democratic society as universities push students into preprofessional pursuits.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Portrait of the Tea Party

    New book documents a rising movement of likable people with offbeat ideas, who constitute a major influence on the Republican Party in this presidential election.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Palin’s game-changing legacy

    Political journalists Mark Halperin ’87 and John Heilemann, M.P.A. ’90, returned to Harvard Thursday night to screen and discuss the new HBO Films adaptation of their best-seller “Game Change,” showing that the drama of Sarah Palin’s 2008 vice presidential nomination can still draw an enthusiastic crowd.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    A call to reverse security measures

    Ralph Nader and Bruce Fein visited Harvard Law School for a talk sponsored by the HLS Forum and the Harvard Law Record. At the event, both men discussed what they called lawless and violent practices by the White House and its agencies that have become institutionalized by both political parties.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Harvard poll predicts Obama loss

    A new national poll of America’s 18- to 29-year-olds by the Institute of Politics (IOP) at the Harvard Kennedy School finds more millennials predict President Barack Obama will lose his bid for re-election (36 percent) than win (30 percent).

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Obama’s narrative

    Mixing historical perspective, personal reminiscence, and psychological analysis, Harvard Law School Professor Charles J. Ogletree Jr. kicked off a three-part lecture series titled “Understanding Obama” Tuesday at the Barker Center as part of the Nathan I. Huggins Lecture Series.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Summers wins Global Economy Prize

    Lawrence S. Summers has been awarded the 2011 Global Economy Prize by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    It was a very good year

    With its 360th Commencement, another chapter in Harvard’s history draws to a close, as marked by highlights from this year. Reinstallation of ROTC, ongoing innovation in science and humanities, and Wynton Marsalis at Harvard top off some of the year’s historical benchmarks.

    17 minutes
  • Nation & World

    David Axelrod joins IOP Board

    The Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School has added another prominent political practitioner to its Senior Advisory Committee: David Axelrod.

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Richard Lazarus named professor of law

    Richard J. Lazarus, J.D. ’79, one of the nation’s foremost experts on environmental law and also a leading practitioner in the U.S. Supreme Court, will join the Harvard Law School faculty this summer as a tenured professor of law.

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Summers takes the long view

    Former Harvard President Lawrence Summers touches on the economy, his time in the White House, and the future of the American job market during a talk at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Making a difference

    Across the University, public service programs are thriving, reinforcing Harvard’s founding mission of providing assistance to others.

    12 minutes
  • Nation & World

    The road to Chile, Brazil

    On her South American trip, Harvard President Drew Faust meets with government and academic leaders, reconnects with Harvard alumni, and views the tangible benefits of the University’s research.

    6 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Do ask, do tell

    Former Army helicopter pilot finds a home at Ed School, hopes that reversal of policy on gays in military may allow her return to service.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    The tipping point

    Seemingly overnight, people in the Mideast and North Africa have risen in anger to demand more freedom. Is this the beginning of democracy in the Arab world, or a new era of political chaos? Harvard analysts offer insights on what is likely to come next.

    14 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Understanding Obama

    Professor James Kloppenberg, author of “Reading Obama: Dreams, Hope, and the American Political Tradition,” took questions from five panelists on the impact of Obama’s presidency at an event sponsored by the Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    National Humanities Medals awarded

    Emeritus professors Daniel Aaron and Bernard Bailyn are two of 10 winners of the 2010 National Humanities Medal awarded by President Barack Obama.

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    Obama honors Robert Brustein

    The American Repertory Theater’s (A.R.T.) founding director Robert Brustein was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama at a ceremony in the White House on March 2.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    To catch a killer

    The field of genomics, after revolutionizing crime fighting through DNA testing, is likely to shake the political landscape, says Jennifer Hochschild, who is researching its implications in Washington, D.C.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    ‘One-drop rule’ persists

    Harvard psychologists have found that the centuries-old “one-drop rule” assigning minority status to mixed-race individuals appears to live on in our modern-day perception and categorization of people like Barack Obama, Tiger Woods, and Halle Berry.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Health Care Reform and American Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know

    Theda Skocpol, the Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology, and Lawrence R. Jacobs parse the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed by President Obama, and explain what comes next for this landmark legislation.

    1 minute
  • Nation & World

    The measure of the man

    James Kloppenberg, chair of Harvard’s History Department, is out with a new book called “Reading Obama,” which parses the American president through his own writings.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Peering into the crystal ball

    Students at Harvard Kennedy School try their hands at political forecasting for the upcoming midterm elections.

    4 minutes
  • Nation & World

    The mystique of merit pay

    Scholars, educators, and politicians gathered for a two-day seminar at Harvard Kennedy School to explore the complicated issue of performance pay in the nation’s public schools.

    3 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Life of the party

    The designated driver campaign is 21 years old. Jay Winsten, an influential force behind the anti-drunk-driving effort, reflects and looks ahead.

    5 minutes
  • Nation & World

    Dean Hammonds appointed to HBCU advisory board by President Obama

    Evelynn Hammonds, dean of Harvard College and Barbara Gutmann Rosenkrantz Professor of the History of Science and of African and African American Studies, was appointed by President Barack Obama to the Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

    1 minute