Dr. Stephen Knott has spent his career learning about, teaching about, and writing about Presidents of the United States of America. He is a Professor of American History & Government at Ashland University in Ohio, and Emeritus Professor of National Security Affairs at the U.S. Naval War College. Dr. Knott was also Co-Chair of the Presidential Oral History Program at the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.
He is the author of eleven books dealing with the American Presidency, the early republic, and American foreign policy. In 2022 he published, “Coming to Terms with John F. Kennedy” and in 2019 “The Lost Soul of the American Presidency: The Decline into Demagoguery and the Prospects for Renewal.” His latest book, which is due out in May, is “Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency” which details through extensive research and citations the ways, according to his telling, eight United States Commanders in Chief used conspiracy theories to advance their causes. They were examples, Dr. Knott would say, of the kinds of demagogues the country’s founders were concerned could someday take on the role. His list includes:
- Thomas Jefferson - 1801-1809
- Andrew Jackson - 1829-1837
- Andrew Johnson - 1865-1869
- Woodrow Wilson - 1913-1921
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) – 1933 until his death in 1945
- Harry S. Truman - 1945-1953
- Richard Nixon - 1969 until his resignation in 1974
- Donald J. Trump - 2016-2020 & 2024-current
Dr. Knott was in Southwest Florida to give two talks about his new book, one at FGCU as part of the university’s Provost’s Seminar Series, the other for the Naples Discussion Group. He stopped by the studio on Thursday, Feb 12.
Click here to listen to our 2024 conversation with Dr. Knott about his 2019 book, “The Lost Soul of the American Presidency: The Decline into Demagoguery and the Prospects for Renewal.”
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