Presidential Libraries as Performance: Curating American Character from Herbert Hoover to George W. Bush(Theater in the Americas)

Who has a stake in the way a president’s public image is presented? How do the performances—exhibitions across a range of media—in a presidential museum shape our understanding of the president as a subject? And how do diverse performances of the presidency create radically different opportunities for the practice of American citizenship? In Presidential Libraries as Performance:  Curating American Character from Herbert Hoover to George W. Bush, author Jodi Kanter considers these questions and more and analyzes presidential libraries and museums as performances that create important models for civic behavior.

About the Author :
Jodi Kanter is an associate professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the George Washington University. She is the author of Performing Loss: Rebuilding Community through Theater and Writing.

Review :
"Although scholars lament that presidential libraries do not present full and unbiased information, Jodi Kanter offers a different way to understand the utility of these sources of knowledge about our chief executives. Viewed through the lens of performance, the libraries tell us much about ourselves and how we understand our shared history. A very engaging read and creative analysis of a much-neglected topic of study."--Mark J. Rozell, author of Executive Privilege: Presidential Power, Secrecy, and Accountability "In looking at American presidential libraries through the lens of performance, Jodi Kanter makes a strong case for how they reflect, shape, and interrogate normative narratives about the presidency, individual presidents and their legacies, and that elusive chimera 'American character.'"--Tim Raphael, author of The President Electric: Ronald Reagan and the Politics of Performance "Jodi Kanter's smart, incisive book shows the power of museums to affect visitors' sense of identity and their place in history. Without cynicism, she challenges prevailing presentations of presidential narratives. Her study of presidential libraries illuminates the larger discussions of truth, identity, and representation happening across all types of museums."--Catherine Hughes, founding executive director, International Museum Theatre Alliance "Presidential Libraries as Performance by Jodi Kanter demonstrates the myriad ways these museums define and influence cultural identity and suggests how they can better mirror the nuanced realities of the Oval Office, its place in a period's unique social and political climate, and the complexities of American character."--Teresa Palomo Acosta, Austin, Texas