Corey Brettschneider, "The Oath and the Office: A Guide to the Constitution for Future Presidents"

Professor Corey Brettschneider, the Carl F. Cranor Visiting Scholar in the Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar Program for 2020-21. His visit is sponsored by Bowdoin's Phi Beta Kappa chapter as well as the Department of Government with support from the John C. Donovan Lecture Fund.

Brettschneider has written widely on questions of free speech and the role of courts in American governance; most recently, with his 2018 book The Oath and the Office (https://www.amazon.com/Oath-Office-Co... ), he explored the role of presidential powers and duties in the Constitution.

That was the focus of his talk at Bowdoin, moderated by Government Department chair Andrew Rudalevige. He writes that the book draws on history to frame "dilemmas that might be faced by future presidents, in an effort to identify some timeless principles that can help to guide us as citizens in an increasingly fragile democracy."

Brettschneider, a graduate of Pomona College and Stanford Law School, also holds a Ph.D. in political science from Princeton University. He is a professor in Brown University's political science department and has served as a visiting professor in the law schools at Fordham, the University of Chicago, and Harvard.