Mark Updegrove

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An Evening with Mark Updegrove

Mark Updegrove - The Last Republicans

Speech Topics

Based on his book of the same name, author and presidential historian, Mark K. Updegrove, tells the intimate, untold story of the relationship between the forty-first and forty-third Presidents, the most consequential father-son relationship in American history—and only the second father-son pair to achieve the presidency. Using material garnered through exclusive access to and extensive interviews with both Bush Presidents, Updegrove dispels misconceptions about their relationship while exploring their influences and perspectives on each other’s presidencies and their views on family, public service, and America’s role in the world.

Drawing on meetings and exclusive interviews with six U.S. presidents, author and presidential historian, Mark K. Updegrove, examines the lessons in character and leadership he has derived from Gerald R. Ford (Integrity), Jimmy Carter (Philanthropy), Ronald Reagan (Humor), George H.W. Bush (Humility), Bill Clinton (Tenacity), George W. Bush (Compassion), and Barack Obama (Equanimity). Updegrove looks at how each man, overcoming inherent flaws in his nature and setbacks in his administration, drew on the best aspects of his character to contribute to his legacy. Accompanied by photographs and short clips from interviews, this hopeful and entertaining speech provides leadership lessons that apply to any profession, inspiring us to find the best in ourselves to make our own marks.

Based on his book of the same name, author and presidential historian, Mark K. Updegrove, the former director of the LBJ Presidential Library, explores the enduring, often surprising legacy of the 36th president, the enigmatic Lyndon Baines Johnson. Playing a series of taped telephone conversations from LBJ’s administration, the audience will hear LBJ in rare, intimate moments that shed light on his consequential presidency: partnering with Martin Luther King, Jr., on seminal civil rights legislation; expressing his anguish about the Vietnam War with Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara; bolstering the spirits of Jacqueline Kennedy in the wake of her husband’s assassination, which propelled Johnson into the Oval Office. The audience will get a revealing sense of LBJ’s bigger-than-life personality, passion for reform, and uncanny knack for getting things done—often through bipartisanship lacking in today’s Washington.

Biography

Having closely examined those decisions that have defined the modern American presidency and personally interviewed those who have shaped the course of history, Mark Updegrove delivers unique insight into how leadership displayed inside the Oval Office can be applied outside of it.

Mark K. Updegrove is a presidential historian and the author of four books on the presidency. His newest book, The Last Republicans: Inside the Extraordinary Relationship Between George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, was published by HarperCollins in November 2017, drawing on exclusive access and interviews with both Bush presidents. As the presidential historian for ABC News, he is a regular contributor to Good Morning America and ABC News and has written for The New York Times, Time, Politico, Parade, National Geographic, Texas Monthly, and The Daily Beast.

Updegrove currently serves as the President and CEO of the Lyndon B. Johnson Foundation. From 2009 to 2017, he was the director of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library, where, in 2014, he hosted the Civil Rights Summit, which included Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter. Earlier in his career, he served as publisher of Newsweek.

In addition to speaking, Updegrove is well-known for moderating public events, having conducted interviews with five U.S. presidents and first ladies as well as a wide range of luminaries including Hank Aaron, Bryan Cranston, Mikhail Gorbachev, Henry Kissinger, Sandra Day O’Connor, Robert Redford, and Condoleezza Rice.