History: Six American Presidents

Forty-Six men have held the office of President of the United States, the highest executive office in the country. From the burgeoning new nation in the aftermath of the War of Independence from Britain, through the trials of the Civil War, and on into the modern age, each one of them has tried (with varying degrees of success) to steer the US through the challenges and opportunities of their own specific era. And each has been shaped by their age, as much as they in turn have shaped it. In this series of lectures, Simon Gregor will explore the life, times and legacy of the first six Presidents, from George Washington to John Quincy Adams, charting the formation of a land that would later become one of the superpowers of the modern world. He will examine not just their time as President, but their wider biography as well, charting the events which moulded the men who in turn sought to mould their nation.