The Jefferson-Hemings Scholars Commission presents evidence contradicting arguments that Thomas Jefferson fathered children with his slave, Sally Hemings. The Commission made up of historians, lawyers and genealogists published the results of their research in a book this year.

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Presidential Historian Richard Norton Smith reflects on the evolution of George Washington’s character, examining how his parents, peers, marriage, and military experience helped shape his personality.

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Ronald Reagan was born in 1911.  In January, as part of the Ronald Reagan Centennial Celebration, Reagan’s alma mater, Eureka College held a conference that focused on Reagan’s formative years in the Midwest.

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The Union League Club of Chicago hosted a gathering of Abraham Lincoln scholars this year to mark the 150th anniversary of the 16th president’s first inauguration  in March of 1861.

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The concept of preventive war in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks – also sometimes called “The Bush Doctrine” – is the focus of a talk by Boston University Professor Andrew Bacevich. He describes its origins at a conference of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations.

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After his grandfather’s death, Harry Truman worked on his family’s 600 acre Missouri farm. In the 12 years he worked the farm before he left to serve during World War I, Truman proposed to his childhood friend, Bess, joined the Masons and the National Guard and honed his skills as a negotiator—all of which proved to be assets in his later political career. University of Central Missouri History Professor Jon Taylor talks about this rarely discussed period of the president’s life.

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On the Presidency: the National Archives and Richard Nixon Foundation host a panel on how the Nixon Administration combated organized crime.

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On the eve of Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant possessed a West Point education and 11 years military experience. But he was also a failed businessman whom few would have imagined as General-in-Chief of all United States armies. Over the next hour, Grant’s pre-war life – including his military education, character and marriage – will be explored at an event sponsored by the National Archives at Kansas City.

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Fifteen years ago-- on October 6-- the Democratic and Republican nominees for president debated the economy,  tax cuts, health care, and foreign policy. President Clinton won the general election with 49 percent of the popular vote and went on to serve a second term.

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In October 2010 the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation held a symposium on Calvin Coolidge.

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