February 10, 2004
Contact: Bob Anderson
(805) 756-1511
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Nixon’s Mark on History to be Subject of Presentation Feb. 25
SAN LUIS OBISPO -- Prominent Nixon scholar Irwin Gellman will discuss the legacy of Richard M. Nixon in a free public talk at Cal Poly Feb. 25.
Gelllman will speak on “Eisenhower and Nixon: Adversaries or Advocates?” at 7 p.m. in Room 123 of the campus's Agricultural Engineering Building. The author of "The Contender -- Nixon: The Congress Years, 1946-52," he will also answer questions from the audience about Nixon’s career and legacy.
Considered to be in the top tier of Nixon historians, Gellman has won praise and engendered controversy for his publications on Nixon as well as for three books dealing with the diplomacy and politics of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Latin America.
He most recently taught at UC Irvine and has discussed his work on C-SPAN, The History Channel, National Public Radio, the BBC and a range of nationally syndicated public-affairs programs. He was featured recently on “Inside the Presidency: Eisenhower vs. Nixon,” on The History Channel.
Gellman, who earned his doctorate in history from the University of Indiana, has challenged much of the published work on Nixon and will discuss what he believes have been some of the problems in methodology used by historians who have sought to explain Nixon. He plans to write four more books on Nixon’s political career.
Gellman's lecture is sponsored by the Cal Poly History Department and College of Liberal Arts.
For more information, call the History Department at 756-2543.
- 30 -