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Jeffrey Engel  

Founding Director, Center for Presidential History; Distinguished Author on American Diplomacy & Politics; Podcast Host of "The Past, the Promise, The Presidency"

Jeffery A. Engel is a distinguished historian, author, and academic, renowned for his expertise in American foreign policy and the modern presidency. He serves as the founding director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University (SMU), where he has made significant contributions to the study of U.S. leadership and international relations.

His scholarship has earned him numerous accolades, including the SMU Faculty Member of the Year, the Honoring Our Professors' Excellence (HOPE) Award in 2019, and the Gerald J. Ford Research Fellowship. Engel is also a Ford Powell Global Order and Foreign Policy Fellow at SMU’s Tower Center for Political Studies, reflecting his influence in both academic and policy circles.

Engel’s academic career is marked by prestigious fellowships and teaching positions at some of the world’s leading institutions. He was a Visiting Professor at the Department of War Studies at King’s College, London, and has been a Senior Research Fellow at the Norwegian Nobel Institute. His previous roles include faculty positions at Texas A&M University, where he received multiple awards for teaching excellence, including the Texas A&M Association of Former Students Distinguished Achievement Award for Teaching and the Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award.

As an accomplished author, Engel has penned numerous books and articles that provide in-depth analysis of critical moments in American history. His works include “Impeachment: An American History,” a comprehensive exploration of the impeachment process through the cases of Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Bill Clinton, and “When the World Seemed New: George H.W. Bush and the End of the Cold War,” which examines the 41st president’s role in navigating the United States through a transformative period in global politics. His scholarship has been recognized with awards such as the 2008 Paul Birdsall Prize in European Military and Strategic History for “Cold War at 30,000 Feet,” awarded by the American Historical Association.

Beyond his academic achievements, Engel is a respected voice in public discourse on American foreign policy and the presidency, frequently appearing on media outlets such as NPR, CNN, and The New York Times. He has contributed to bridging the gap between scholarly research and public understanding, making him a sought-after speaker and commentator. His work at the Center for Presidential History continues to foster a deeper understanding of the complexities of American leadership and its impact on global affairs.

Speech Topics


Surviving America’s Existential Crises

Every generation faces crises. Yet only three times in our nation’s history has the republic’s very existence been in doubt. George Washington left his well-earned retirement to provide a symbol of stability and virtue the new nation would not have formed without. Abraham Lincoln oversaw a country rent in two. Franklin D. Roosevelt governed during an economic crisis so great many wondered if democracy itself could survive. Today our politically-riven nation may well face only the fourth existential crisis in its long history, and only the lessons of the past can help navigate the rocky shoals ahead.

What Would FDR Say Today

George Washington set precedents. Lincoln preserved the union. But only Franklin D. Roosevelt won the nation’s highest office four times. Only Roosevelt faced an economic crisis so severe it remains our benchmark for calamity. Only Roosevelt saw a world on the brink, knowing that his leadership was all that stood between isolationism and war. Known to subsequent generations by his easily-recalled initials, FDR, he defined American politics for a generation and for generations to come. He’s not here with us now. If he were, what would he say and do?

The Untold Story of the Cold War’s End, and Why We Are All Lucky to Have Survived

The Cold War shouldn’t have ended peacefully. Rarely if ever throughout world history has a great power collapsed without an ensuing great power war. Never before had the world faced an empire’s collapse with 20,000 nuclear weapons in the mix. The story of the Cold War’s surprisingly peaceful end is both remarkable, and largely unknown. The Berlin Wall opened by accident, for example. Nuclear war nearly occurred several times as well, beyond the public’s eye. German reunification, meanwhile, terrified past witnesses to that nation’s violent past yet also set the tone for the international system we still inhabit today. Examining our surprising survival reveals what really matters in times of crisis: the character of our leaders…and luck.

Putin and the Presidents

US-Russian relations are at a new post-Cold War low. But those tensions go far beyond the current crisis over Ukraine. Russian-American antagonisms stem instead from long-standing geopolitical differences — different worldviews, really — held by American and Russian leaders since the Cold War’s End. Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev set the stage for change, but only one man has been a constant in their critical bilateral relationship since: Vladimir Putin. His personal story reveals much of why the world is at war with Russia today, a story told through the evolution of his relationship with the U.S. Presidents he’s known: George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden.

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