Hauenstein Center hosts presidential scholar H.W. Brands

Cold calculation in politics has become business as usual in Washington, but no politician would ever take amoral calculation to an extreme for fear of being labeled Machiavellian, said Gleaves Whitney, director of the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies at Grand Valley State University.

In order to understand what a Machiavellian mindset might mean to the president of the United States, the Hauenstein Center, along with the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum, and Foundation, will host noted historian and author H.W. Brands on December 10.

The name Machiavelli has been synonymous with unscrupulous politics for centuries, but if the Florentine historian and author returned to life and visited modern-day America, he would have some useful and surprising advice for America’s chief executive.

“The Prez: Machiavelli Visits the White House”

Presented by H.W. Brands

December 10, 7 p.m.

L.V. Eberhard Center, 301 West Fulton Street, Grand Rapids, MI 49504

Brands, a best-selling author and historian, will discuss the advice Machiavelli would have for an American president and what that advice says about the state of the nation’s highest office.

This event is presented in partnership with the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum, and Foundation.

For more information, visit HauensteinCenter.org.