About the Center
The Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency at Hofstra University was established in 2006 through a generous grant from Hofstra trustee and alumnus Peter S. Kalikow.
Mr. Kalikow's gift also established the Peter S. Kalikow Chair in Presidential Studies. On Nov. 15, 2006, Meena Bose, Ph.D., was installed as the first endowed chair in presidential studies. Dr. Bose, who had previously been director of American Politics at the United States Military Academy at West Point, had previously taught at Hofstra from 1996-2000.
Together with Hofstra's conferences on the American presidency, the Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency and the Peter S. Kalikow Chair in Presidential Studies make Hofstra one of the very few institutions in the country with a unique focus on the presidency. The Center's activities will include:
- Promoting a program of continuing research on important issues relating to the American presidency
- Holding annual conferences and symposia devoted to analyzing critical issues regarding the American presidency by bringing together, from around the nation and the world, leading scholars, political practitioners, and journalists
- Sponsoring a lecture series bringing to Hofstra the most distinguished scholars on the American presidency.
Hofstra has held 11 presidential conferences on every president from Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Bill Clinton. These symposia have been viewed by scholars as the first draft of history for these administrations. Four former presidents - Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush and, in November 2005, Bill Clinton attended the Hofstra conferences on their administrations.
On Nov. 23, 2006, Dr. Bose appeared on the PBS program "Newshour with Jim Lehrer" discussing comparisons between the Vietnam War and the war Iraq.