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"[The Center Fellowship Program is] the next best thing to working at the White House."

George Stephanopoulos
former Center Fellow

Call to Public Service

The non-partisan Center for the Study of the Presidency actively counsels the White House and the Executive Branch on policy area critical to strengthening Presidential leadership by reaching out to the creativity and innovation in the private sector, public policy centers, and academic communities. The following programs constitute the core of the Center's current initiatives:

Center Fellows Program

The Center for the Study of the Presidency, founded in 1965, is a non-profit, non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization serving as a central resource on issues affecting the modern Presidency. As the foremost organization in the United States dedicated to this effort, the Center endeavors to study all aspects of the American Presidency, to strengthen the Executive-Legislative Branch relationship, and to encourage public service, especially among young Americans. More Info

The Center Fellows Program is a unique non-resident educational initiative offering 65 select undergraduate and graduate students from leading colleges and universities, a year-long opportunity to study the U.S. Presidency, the public policymaking process, and our Chief Executive's relations with Congress, allies, the media, and the American public. Our goal is to develop a new generation of national leaders committed to public service.

Fellows come to Washington, D.C. for personal briefings by national media representatives, for networking opportunities with decision makers, and for a chance to learn firsthand about the policymaking process.

This unique Fellowship requires that each student research, write, and present an original paper on an issue of the modern Presidency that will be published by the Center. The Center provides Mentors drawn from the public policy community and government to help the Fellows define their proposals and also support the writing and editing of an article that is brought to publishing standards during the academic year.

In the spring of 2003 the Center hosted its Annual Awards Dinner honoring Tom Ridge, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, for his public service to the country in a time of national crisis. The Publius Award, named after the pseudonym adopted by the authors of the Federalist Papers, was presented to Secretary Ridge before an audience of 450 public policy leaders, including Ambassadors and Ministers of Foreign Embassies, Members of Congress, business, think tank, and governmental executives, and CSP Fellows.

Each year two Center Fellows are recognized for the exceptional scholarship of their papers on the modern Presidency. Substantial awards and plaques honoring their achievements are presented.
Since its inception, the Center Fellows Program has developed leadership and scholarship skills in more than 1,000 students. Many have gone on to distinguish themselves in government, education, military, business and other fields of endeavor.



Meet the Center Fellows

 

Alicia Kolar of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard analyzed President Kennedy's speech to the nation during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Working with Ted Sorensen, Kennedy's speech writer, she compared the delivered speech to one drafted for President Kennedy that he did not deliver, which would have announced the commencement of air strikes on Cuba. New documents that recently were made public provided an intimate look at Kennedy's most critical Presidential decision and how his words helped avoid a war.

 

Ajay Sutaria of Columbia University wrote "Towards a New Paradigm: Reevaluating Presidential and Congressional Roles in the Formulation of National Security Policy." This paper argued that the old National Security Constitution, a paradigm based on the War Powers Resolution, is too constrictive of Presidential leadership for this new age. Key elements of an alternative paradigm provide the President with the ability to lead while maintaining the balanced participation of the branches envisioned in the Constitution.

 

Teresa Breen of UCLA examined "Peace in Sudan," comparing the newly-energized efforts of the Bush Administration to end the civil war in Sudan to the policies of the Clinton Administration. Following a thorough research of relevant issues, she analyzed whether the same mistakes will be repeated or whether real progress in ending this four-decades- old civil war is truly possible.


Brett Tompkins of the University of Pennsylvania explored "Destiny of Expansion: Theodore Roosevelt's Address at the Dedication Ceremonies of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition 1903 Western Tour." In his corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, Theodore Roosevelt became the first President who actively sought to place the United States within a framework of global power. By examining the first truly modern expression of U.S. foreign policy, this paper determined what effect the legacy of Rooseveltian interventionism has had on recent U.S. foreign policy.

 

Laila Shetty of Barnard College analyzed "The American Steel Industry: Is Protectionism Really Helping the Industry Get Back on Its Feet?" Ms. Shetty asked what steps led the Bush Administration to impose these tariffs and what further consequences does the industry, and more importantly the United States, face as a result of these drastic measures.

 

 

 

Center for the Study of the Presidency
1020 Nineteenth Street, NW - Suite 250 | Washington, DC 20036
Tel: 202-872-9800 | Fax: 202-872-9811 | E-mail: [email protected]

2005 - 2018