About this Event
This event will be in person
Why do leaders do what they do? The cynical answer – self-interest, calculation, the pursuit of power – is true, but it is never the whole truth. Drawing on twenty years of research into Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and the Anglo-American relationship.
Professor James Cooper argues that leadership is more calculated and more genuine, more constrained and more consequential, than either its admirers or its critics allow. From a Worcestershire classroom to the archives of presidents and prime ministers, Jim reflects on a historian's journey – and on why we should resist the verdict that arrives before the understanding does.
All are welcome; no prior knowledge required.
Biography:
James Cooper is Professor of U.S. History and Anglo-American Relations at York St John University. He was previously a Senior Lecturer in History at Oxford Brookes University, UK and he was the 20th Fulbright-Robertson Visiting Professor of British History at Westminster College, Missouri, USA. In May 2016, Dr Cooper was a Visiting Fellow at the Norwegian Nobel Institute.
His previous publications include: A Diplomatic Meeting: Reagan, Thatcher, and the Art of Summitry (2022); The Politics of Diplomacy: U.S. Presidents and the Northern Ireland Conflict, 1967-98 (2017); and, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan: A Very Political Special Relationship (2012). He currently holds a Leverhulme Research Fellowship for a study of Margaret Thatcher as a broker between Britain, Europe, and the United States in the 1980s.
Jim is married to Danielle and they live just outside of York with their three sons: Macaulay, Fox and Wilder (and their dog and two rabbits).
Timings and Refreshments
This event will finish at 7.00pm and will be followed by a drinks reception from 7.00pm - 7.45pm for all attending.
Venue: De Grey Lecture Theatre, York St John University, Lord Mayor’s Walk, YO31 7EX.
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Event venue & nearby stays
York St John University, De Grey Lecture Theatre, Lord Mayor's Walk, York, United Kingdom
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