Elon Musk’s has renewed debate about freedom of online speech, online content moderation and the power of billionaires to shape public conversation, said 91̽�� history professor .

“No person in human history has reached such a high net worth,” O’Mara said. “No other leader of a publicly traded company comes close to Musk’s unfiltered, bombastic communications style and his willingness to flout the Securities and Exchange Commission.”

News of the sale — and Musk’s tweets advocating for freedom of speech on the platform — have ignited confusion about how free speech applies in the Internet age.

“The U.S. Constitution protects speech from government censorship, not from actions of private companies,” O’Mara said. “Twitter, like other social media companies, has always had the right to set its own standards for what users say and to enforce them accordingly. Musk can decide that Twitter’s standards should be freer than they are now, but that is not the same as freedom of the press.

“Freedom of the press also is a protection from government censorship, but it raises another question that’s been hotly debated of late: What is social media’s responsibility for shaping public discourse, and controlling hate speech and disinformation that occurs on their platform?”

In the decades before the Civil War, O’Mara said the U.S. media environment consisted of hundreds of local and regional newspapers that were heavily opinionated. As the population grew and journalism became big business, the industry developed standards intended to ensure fair and comprehensive coverage.

Those standards have been challenged by the deregulation of broadcast media and the rise of the internet, O’Mara said, and sites like Twitter have turned users into their own publishers. The result can be a fractious and sharply opinionated internet environment that echoes the early 19th century, but now moves with far more speed and scale.

But why does Musk’s purchase of Twitter matter, particularly because it’s a relatively small platform compared to social media rivals like Facebook and YouTube?

“Twitter punches far above its weight because it is the favored platform for journalists, academics, and politicians — including the now-banned tweeter-in-chief, former President Donald Trump,” O’Mara said. “Twitter is the place where news is broken, where issues are fought over and where the famous and ordinary meet. It has been a mobilizing force for movements for racial justice and has elevated underrepresented voices.

“But its short history also is a cautionary tale for how letting information run free can have both beneficial and very damaging consequences. The company has put a great deal of work to combat the trolling and harassment once endemic on the platform. If Musk decides to sideline that work, the experience of users who identify as female, minority and LGBTQIA+ could be dramatically different.

“Beyond the 420 jokes and incendiary memes, Elon Musk is much like other American moguls before him: relentless, unapologetic and remarkably successful at getting what he wants.”

For more information, contact O’Mara at momara@uw.edu �ǰ���.

An astronomer tells tales of stargazing and pursuing the universe’s big questions, a grandparent shares wisdom for happy living, a jazz drummer lays down a cool new album …

But behold, yet more! An engineer pens STEM biographies for children, a cartoonist draws stories from his life, researchers ponder the future of river and wildlife conservation, and faculty masters bring out new classical recordings on guitar and piano.

Though 2020 was a holy humbug of a year, 91̽�� talents persevered, and published. Here’s a quick look at some giftworthy books and music created by 91̽��faculty and staff, and a reminder of some recent favorites.

Stargazing stories: , associate professor of astronomy, published the anecdote-filled “” in August. “These are stories astronomers tell each other when all of us are hanging out at meetings,” Levesque said. Kirkus Reviews called them “entertaining, ardent tales from an era of stargazing that may not last much longer.”

‘Grand’ wisdom: , professor emeritus of English, has written novels, short stories and more, but takes a personal turn in “.” He offers his grandson, and readers, “what I hope are 10 fertile and essential ideas for the art of living.” It’s all presented “tentatively and with great humility,” Johnson says, as “grandfatherly advice is as plentiful as blackberries.”

Drums, duets: , assistant professor of music, released the album “” in March. Poor told 91̽��News the music “is a celebration of space — space for drums to resonate and convey a feeling, and for the melody to dance around and push that feeling. It is primarily a collection of duets with saxophonist�� and the sound of the record is focused on drums and sax throughout.”

STEM stories: , professor of civil and environmental engineering, published two books for young readers this fall: “The Secret Lives of Scientists, Engineers, and Doctors,” volumes and . The volumes showcase “the struggle, growth and success” of 12 professionals in STEM fields, including a geneticist, a biologist, a cancer researcher and a scientist at the National Institutes of Health. More books are .

Life drawings: , professor of Slavic languages and literatures and comparative literature, published “,” a eclectic collection of drawings and essays, highlighting his different styles through the years, “from tragedy to tragicomedy to documentary to black humor,” he said.

Guitar works: School of Music faculty guitarist released his 10^th album in March. “” features classical guitar works written for him by composers and

Sheppard plays Brahms: , internationally known professor and pianist, put out a digital release of 107 early Brahms works in October, titled “.” The work joins Sheppard’s lengthy from a decades-long career.

Ecological restoration: How has climate change affected regional ecological restoration? , a research scientist in human centered design and engineering, looks for answers in “,” from 91̽��Press.

River history: Seattle was born from the banks of the Duwamish River, writes BJ Cummings of the 91̽��Superfund Research Program, but the river’s story, and that of its people, has not fully been told. Cummings seeks to remedy that with “,” published by 91̽��Press.

Coexisting: Agriculture and wildlife can coexist, says , professor of environmental and forest sciences, in his book “.” But only “if farmers are justly rewarded for conservation, if future technological advancements increase food production and reduce food waste, and if consumers cut back on meat consumption.”

And here are some favorites from 2019:

O’Mara’s ‘Code’: History professor provides a sweeping history of California’s computer industry titans in “ The New York Times called it an “accessible yet sophisticated chronicle.”

Mindful travel: of the English Department and the Comparative History of Ideas program discusses how travelers can respectfully explore cultures with lower incomes, different cultural patterns and fewer luxuries in “.”

Kingdome man: , associate professor of architecture, studies the life and work of Jack Christiansen, designer of the Kingdome and other structures, in “,” published by 91̽��Press.

Powerful silence: “,” a documentary directed by English professor about NFL star Marshawn Lynch’s use of silence as a form of protest, is available for rent or purchase on several platforms.

Seattle stories: 91̽��Press republished English professor ‘s well-loved 1976 reflections on his city, “.” Sale, who taught at the 91̽��for decades, died in 2017.

• Joanne De Pue, School of Music communications director, assisted with this story.

“When elections are closely fought, and the outcome comes down to only a few votes or a recount, the drama increases. But ultimately, when a final decision is made or last vote counted, the loser makes a gracious admission of defeat,” she says.

This year may be different.

“President Trump has signaled that he may not go as easily. If he refuses to concede and continues to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the results, it would be a grave danger to our political institutions. The peaceful transition of power has been a hallmark of the American presidency since the very start, no matter how contentious or closely fought an election,” says O’Mara, who is the Howard & Frances Keller Endowed Professor of history.

This isn’t the first tightly contested national campaign. But it would be the first where the incumbent refuses to concede.

In 2000, Al Gore decided that, for the good of the nation, he needed to accept the Supreme Court’s ruling to stop the ongoing recount in Florida, O’Mara says. A similar series of events happened here in Washington state in 2004 when Dino Rossi conceded to Christine Gregoire after losing by just 130 votes.

Now, concessions aren’t always polite, O’Mara points out. When Richard Nixon lost the California governor’s race in 1962 (after losing to JFK for the presidency two years earlier) he famously grumbled to journalists, “.” Of course, it wasn’t — a few years later he was running for president once again, winning in 1968.

The race for governor in Washington also includes a candidate who hasn’t conceded to his opponent, as of Monday. O’Mara adds, “Loren Culp ran as a conservative, Trumpist Republican, so perhaps it is not surprising that he too would not go quietly, although the margin of Gov. Jay Inslee’s victory will make his case more difficult for either election officials to agree to investigate or voters to support.”

For more information, contact O’Mara at momara@uw.edu or .

In 2019, the 91̽�� was mentioned in 4,143 news articles around the world. Among those, 91̽��experts were quoted 2,290 times: 1,185 in national or international outlets and 1,105 in regional and local outlets.

91̽��faculty, researchers, graduate students and staff who engage in these interviews offer their expertise and knowledge to the general public through the news media. These interviews can take significant time and effort, but they help demonstrate day after day the important, relevant and innovative work of the university.

Below are a few highlights from 91̽��faculty and researchers quoted in 2019 and the top regional, national and international outlets the 91̽��was mentioned in.

“Technology will always move faster than lawmakers are able to regulate. The answer to the dilemma is to listen to the experts at the outset, and be vigilant in updating laws to match current technological realities.”

Margaret O’Mara, professor in the Department of History
— July 5, 2019

“You can either approach it from the standpoint that there is something fundamentally wrong with black women’s bodies, or there’s something wrong with the way we treat black women and their bodies,” Doll says. “We are not going to help women, and we are not going to solve this problem, if we don’t deal with the problem of race and racism.”

Dr. Kemi Doll, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology in the 91̽��School of Medicine
— October 21, 2019

“As in the Apollo era, innovations being developed for spaceflight have major benefits, often unforeseen at the time, for society.”

Robert Winglee, professor in the Department of Earth & Space Sciences
— July 25, 2019

“Our impact on the climate is tied up with population in lots of different ways — what resources people are using, how much industrial production is going on, how much energy is needed for heating, cooling and transportation.”

Amy Snover, director of the 91̽��Climate Impacts Group
— June 17, 2019

Her sweeping new book about the history of Silicon Valley has 91̽�� history professor on a busy national book tour this summer. The book, “,” was published this month by Penguin Press and is receiving many positive reviews.

“The Code” takes the reader from the post-World War II beginnings of computer technology to the garages and dorm rooms of the emerging computer titans, through the dot.com boom and bust and up to the social media-saturated present.

O’Mara explores the power dynamics — and deeply ingrained misogyny — that kept women from full participation in this tech revolution. And she reminds readers that Silicon Valley’s boom was via grants from the federal government.

Publishers Weekly said the book “puts a gloriously human face on the history of computing in the U.S.,” and calls it “a must-read for anyone interested in how a one-horse town birthed a revolution that has shifted the course of modern civilization.”

Critic and New Yorker writer Ken Auletta, who wrote a history of Google, called “The Code” a “vital and important” book.

“With the deftness of a novelist and the care of a scholar, (O’Mara) guides the reader on an exciting journey — from the pioneers who birthed Silicon Valley, to often overlooked government dollars that served as its spur, to portraits of both famed individuals like Jobs and Gates and of those who deserved to be famous, in an industry that both inspires and horrifies.”

In an interview posted by Penguin Press, O’Mara is asked why the tech revolution exploded in California rather than New York, Boston or even Houston. The West Coast was the right place, and the early Cold War the right time, she said, for people to seize such an entrepreneurial opportunity — and the area’s relative geographic isolation helped, too.

“Far removed from the era’s capitals of politics and finance, the sleepy valley was able to create a tech Galapagos of distinctive business species,” she said. “Startups, law firms, marketing operations, and more — bound by tight personal and professional connections.” Add to that the waves of highly creative and capable immigrants who ventured to the valley, “and you have a region unlike any other.”

Asked about the relationship between Silicon Valley and the Cold War race to the moon — days now from the 50^th anniversary of the Apollo 11’s historic landing — O’Mara said until researching the book she hadn’t realized the “enormous” role the space race played in the valley’s history.

“The Apollo program became the first and largest customer for newly created integrated circuits and other small electronics the valley built, really jump-starting the semiconductor industry,” she said. That also set the area apart from other tech hubs like Los Angeles and Seattle, “which built things like airplanes, on a large scale, while the valley built small.”

Social media has amplified hate and polarized people; O’Mara was asked if the idealism of Silicon Valley computers changing the world was always “an illusion” or if it could still be realized.��

O’Mara said when she began work on “The Code” five years back, “it was hard to puncture the resolute techno-optimism about Silicon Valley — not just in the valley, but in media and political circles as well.

“Now the pendulum of popular and political opinion has swung so violently in the other direction that it can be hard to see the good that tech has done. But it has.

We are walking around with supercomputers in our pockets, and the gift cards in our wallets … have more computing power than the rockets that sent American astronauts to the moon.�� Even fractious and fractured social media platforms have elevated new voices, held the powerful accountable, and connected people across time and space.”

Asked if reviewing the history of Silicon Valley encourages her to think that big tech may yet help solve complex world problems, she said that individual and collective human action is where change comes from, and Silicon Valley “had amassed … an extraordinary well of human talent, of people who truly do want to change the world for the better.

“They can do that if they reckon with their history—and understand that solutions won’t come only from better tech, but from recognizing interconnections between government and tech, between old and new economy sectors, between technical and non-technical people.”

History, she said, “makes me an optimist. When you study history, you understand that nothing is inevitable, and nearly everything is changeable.”

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For more information, visit

• Follow her on Twitter:

, 91̽�� professor of history, explores the impact of a December 1968 computer presentation that came to be called “the mother of all demos” in an episode of a new podcast series from the news website

O’Mara was interviewed by host Phillip Martin for The Conversation’s new podcast, “,” telling stories of 1968, which the site calls “the year that changed America.” She also wrote an for the website to accompany the podcast.

The Conversation is a not-for-profit website that publishes writing by academics on newsworthy topics. It started in Australia in 2011 and began operations in the United States in 2014. The site also publishes in Canada, Europe, Africa and Indonesia. Its new podcast began in September.

O’Mara’s interview and essay explore the importance of 1968 to the development of computer technology — and ultimately Silicon Valley itself. The famous “demo” was that of a quiet Stanford researcher named Douglas Engelbart, who, O’Mara writes, “took the stage at San Francisco Civic Auditorium and proceeded to blow everyone’s mind about what computers could do.”

The innovation being presented? A palm-sized wooden box with wheels and a cord — naturally called a “mouse.” The demonstration, O’Mara said, previewed the world of personal and online computing that was to come a few years later.

“It wasn’t just the technology that was revelatory,” O’Mara writes, “it was the notion that a computer could be something a non-specialist individual user could control from their own desk.”

She also notes the irony that the subsequent “government-is-dangerous-and-small-is-beautiful” computing era that resulted would not have happened “without government research funding in the first place.”

O’Mara’s “Heat and Light” interview became available on September 17. Other 1968 topics have included campus activism, television’s first inter-racial kiss and feminist protests of the Miss America Pageant.

O’Mara’s research focuses on the high-tech industry, American politics, and connections between the two. She is the author of “Cities of Knowledge: Cold War Science and the Search for the Next Silicon Valley” (Princeton, 2005) and “” (University of Pennsylvania, 2012). Her next book is a history of the late-20th century United States told through the lens of the high-tech revolution.

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For more information, contact O’Mara at . Follow her on Twitter at @margaretomara.

A novelist’s thoughts on storytelling, a geologist’s soil restoration strategy, an environmentalist’s memoir, a celebration of Latino music influences, a poet’s meditations on her changing city …

Yes, and a best-selling author’s latest work, a podcast reborn as a book, a collaboration of world-class violists and even tales of brave Icelandic seawomen — at this festive time of year, 91̽�� faculty creations can make great gifts for the Dawg on your shopping list.

Here’s a quick look at some gift-worthy books and music created by 91̽��talents in the last year or so — and a reminder of some perennial favorites.

Charles Johnson, “.” Johnson, National Book Award-winning author of “” and longtime professor of English, discusses his art in a book stemming from a year of interviews. “There is winning sanity here,” the New York Times wrote: “Johnson wants his students to be ‘raconteurs always ready to tell an engaging tale,’ not self-preoccupied neurotics.” Published by .

Marisol Berríos-Miranda, Shannon Dudley and Michelle Habell-Pallán, ““ An extraordinary exhibit at the Smithsonian and Seattle’s Experience Music Project (now Museum of Pop Culture) comes to life as a book, detailing Latino influence on American popular music from salsa to punk, Chicano rock to the Miami sound. Berrios-Miranda is an affiliate associate professor of ethnomusicology, Dudley an associate professor of music and Habell-Pallán an associate professor in the Department of Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies. It’s a dual-language volume — English on the right side, Spanish on the left. And as a bonus the authors have created an American Sabor on iTunes and Spotify; the book flags specific songs with a playlist icon. Published by 91̽�� Press.

David R. Montgomery, “.” Montgomery, a professor of Earth and space sciences, won praise for his popular 2007 book “.” Several books later he returned in 2017 with this view of environmental restoration based on three ideas – “ditch the plow, cover up, grow diversity.” said Montgomery’s well-expressed views “will convince readers that soil health should not remain an under-the-radar issue and that we all benefit from embracing a new philosophy of farming.” Published by .

Margaret Willson, Willson is an affiliate associate professor of anthropology and the Canadian Studies Arctic Program. In her years working as a deckhand she came across historic accounts of a woman sea captain known for reading the weather, hauling in large catches and never losing a crew member in 60 years of fishing. “And yet people in Iceland told me there had been few seawomen in their past, and few in their present,” she said. “I found this strange in a country of such purported gender equality. This curiosity led to the research and all that came from it.” Published by .

Estella Leopold, “.” Leopold is professor emeritus of biology and the youngest daughter of , who wrote the 1949 classic of early environmentalism, “.” She returns to scenes of her Wisconsin childhood in this follow-up, describing her life on the land where her father practiced his revolutionary conservation philosophy. Published by .

David Shields, “.” Shields is a professor of English and the best-selling author of many books, starting with his 1984 novel “.” In 2017 he brought out this collection of essays that the New York Times called “a triumphantly humane book” and him “our elusive, humorous ironist, something like a 21^st century Socrates.” The paper’s praise continued: “He is a master stylist — and has been for a long time, on the evidence of these pieces from throughout his career. . . All good writers make us feel less alone. But Shields makes us feel better.” Published by .

Joseph Janes, “.” The year 2017 saw Janes’ popular podcast “” become a book under a slightly different title. Janes is an associate professor in the Information School who writes here about the origin and often evolving meaning of historical documents, both famous and less known. Some of his favorite “documents” are Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s fictional list of communists, the Fannie Farmer Cookbook and the backstory to what’s called the Rosie the Riveter poster. Published by .

Frances McCue, Well-known Seattle poet, teacher and self-described “arts instigator,” McCue is a senior lecturer in English. She was a co-founder of Hugo House, a place for writers, and served as its director for 10 years. Those experiences fuel this book of poems about the changing nature of the city. “This is Seattle. A place to love whatever’s left,” she writes. Published by .

Scott L. Montgomery, “.” Scientific research that doesn’t get communicated effectively to the public may as well not have happened at all, says geoscientist Montgomery in this second volume of a popular 2001 book. A prolific writer, Montgomery is a lecturer in the Jackson School of International Studies. “Communicating is the doing of science,” he adds. “Publication and public speaking are how scientific work gains a presence, a shared reality in the world.”�� Published by .

Odai Johnson, “.” The true cultural tipping point in the run-up to the American Revolution, writes Johnson, a professor in the School of Drama, might not have been the Boston Tea Party or even the First Continental Congress. Rather, he suggests, it was Congress’ 1774 decision to close the British American theaters — a small act but “a hard shot across the bow of British culture.” Published by .

Here are some recordings from 2017 involving faculty in the 91̽��School of Music:

Melia Watras, “.” Music professor Watras offers a collaboration from of world-class violists performing and sharing their own compositions with each other. Her own playing has been described in the press as “staggeringly virtuosic.” Richard Karpen, School of Music director, is among several guests. The title comes from the number of strings on the instruments used: two violas, one violin, and the 14-string viola d’amore. .

Cuong Vu 4-Tet, “.” A live collaboration between Vu, 91̽��Jazz Studies chair, and renowned jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, who is an affiliate professor with the School of Music. Recorded in 2016 at Meany Theater, Vu and Frisell were joined by artists in residence Ted Poor on drums and Luke Bergman on bass. Released on .

Craig Sheppard, “.” Sheppard, longtime professor of music and a world-class pianist, plays sonatas and mazurkas by Frederic Chopin recorded live at Meany Theater in February 2017. The Seattle Times said of an earlier Chopin concert of Sheppard’s that his playing featured “exquisite details … it was playing that revealed layer after layer of music in each piece, as if one were faceting a gemstone. Released on .

Here are some other notable recent UW-authored books:

• Research on poverty and the American suburbs in “,” by Scott Allard, professor in the Evan School of Public Policy & Governance.
• Literature meets science to contemplate the geologic epoch of humans in “,” co-edited by Jesse Oak Taylor, associate professor of English.
• A popular science exploration of machine learning and the algorithms that help run our lives in “,” by Pedro Domingos, professor of computer science and engineering.
• A close look at four of America’s electoral adventures in “” by Margaret O’Mara, professor of history.
• A fully revised second edition of Earth and space sciences professor Darrel Cowan’s popular 1984 book, “.” This 378-page paperback is filled with details about Washington state geology.
• The story of a city’s transition from the Ottoman Empire to Greece in “” by Devin Naar, professor of history and Jewish studies.
• A city that “thinks like a planet” is one both resilient to and ready for the future that the changing Earth will bring, says Marina Alberti, professor in the College of Built Environments in “.
• Todd London, professor and director of the School of Drama, follows the professional theater experiences of 15 actors from the 1995 class of Harvard’s American Repertory Theater in “.”
• Dr. Stephen Helgerson, a 91̽��School of Public Health alumnus and physician in preventive medicine for four decades, uses the novella form to tell of the influenza epidemic’s arrival in his state in “.”
• On the 500^th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, an exploration of faith that results in the common good in “,” co-authored by Steve Pfaff, professor of sociology.
• Calm down from holiday — and tech-induced stresses — by thinking mindfully with “” by communication professor David Levy.

Finally, still-popular and pertinent books from a few years back include the second edition of “” by Jeffrey Ochsner, professor of architecture; “” by Randlett with Frances McCue; “” by Cliff Mass, professor of atmospheric sciences; and the ever-popular “” by Bill Holm, professor emeritus of art history. All of these were published by , which has many other great titles.

91̽��historian was among scholars cable TV channel CSPAN asked to compare American commanders-in-chief for its recent , ranking the nation’s presidents from best to worst in 10 categories of effectiveness.

The survey, released Feb.17, showed former President Barack Obama entering the overall ranking at number 12 just weeks after leaving office. Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and Franklin Delano Roosevelt top most of the rankings, perhaps unsurprisingly. FDR’s cousin Theodore Roosevelt and successor Harry Truman follow close behind, as well as two-term Republican president Dwight Eisenhower. Ike’s rank is rising over the years; Woodrow Wilson’s is dropping. The survey, conducted before in 2000 and 2009, only ranks presidencies that have been completed.

O’Mara and about 90 other historians ranked each president on 10 qualities of presidential leadership, from “moral authority” and “public persuasion” to crisis management, relations with Congress and with foreign powers, administrative prowess and the pursuit of equal justice for all.

“The ultimate ranking was as much of a ‘big reveal’ to me as it was to everyone else,” O’Mara said. “The metrics they use are a reminder of just how expansive the job of being U.S. president can be, particularly in the modern era. A century-plus ago, the federal government was much smaller, the executive branch much weaker, and the U.S. was not yet a military nor industrial superpower.”

Some considered poor presidents, she said, just had the bad timing of serving during economic or political crises beyond their control. Others seemed to find greatness through crisis.

“It’s no coincidence that many of the top-ranked presidents held office during times of war. Wartime leadership is a true test of the occupant of the White House and how they are remembered by history.”

Were there any surprises for you on the list?

O’Mara: “I was pleasantly surprised by the uptick in ranking for Dwight Eisenhower (ranked fifth overall, up from ninth in 2000). This reflects a new appreciation of Ike among historians and a renewed focus on the significant domestic and foreign policy events of his era. For a long time (including during his presidency) Eisenhower was seen as a genial, middle-of-the-road interlude between the more action-packed and charismatic Roosevelt-Truman and Kennedy Administrations.

“But the 1950s weren’t placid, by a long shot. Eisenhower steered the ship of state during a particularly dangerous geopolitical moment, oversaw the creation of a new high-tech military and defense economy, and practiced political moderation and bipartisanship that resulted in steady if not spectacular progress in social and economic legislation.”

What keeps Teddy Roosevelt near the top of these lists?

O’Mara: “Teddy Roosevelt remains high on the list, I think, not just because he’s one of the more colorful characters to occupy the White House but because his era began and helped define the modern presidency and the media environment that goes with it.

“He presided over the beginning stages of an expanded administrative state and the start of an era of American imperialism and military might — both significant turns from the status quo of the 19th century. He also was a million-watt celebrity and public figure at a moment of great expansion of print media and of great changes in how campaigns were run, which made elections more about candidates than about parties.”

We seem to be moving away from FDR-style government, yet he remains near the top every time. What does that tell us?

O’Mara: “FDR is a great example of how times of crisis are the making of great presidents. His predecessor, Herbert Hoover, remains in the bottom ranks of the list despite being once-famed for his managerial savvy and media magic. But faced with the crisis of the Great Depression, Hoover failed to act swiftly enough, and dramatically enough, to slow the fall and save his presidency. With the New Deal and World War II, Roosevelt oversaw the transformation of the American state into its modern, and much larger form, as well as built a political coalition that secured Democratic dominance of national politics for a half-century to come.”

Do such rankings really reveal anything new?

O’Mara: “Historians are storytellers. We’re qualitative researchers. So boiling down 44 presidents to a numerical ranking does seem like it’s pretty reductive. But it also can be instructive, and that’s why I participated. It prompts a broader conversation about what the job of president is, and how it has changed — so much! — over time.

“It also gets us thinking and talking about the distinctive way in which the United States conducts its affairs of state, the changing dynamics of our three branches of government, and how the job of president is now not simply one of governing a country but of shaping opportunity and possibility around the world.”

The changes the 20^th century brought to American presidential politics — party redefinition, the rise of progressives, third-party disruptors and the changing role of the press — “continue to hold true” in the 21^st century, says , 91̽�� associate professor of history.

O’Mara is the author of the new book “,” published in August by University of Pennsylvania Press. She discussed her book and the four elections it investigates with 91̽��News.

How did this book come about?

Because of the UW! My colleagues asked me to deliver the annual History Lecture Series in autumn 2012, on the eve of the last presidential election. Some of the great people who came to hear my talks inspired me by asking, “When’s the book coming out?” My colleagues and family encouraged me as well. By then I was entranced with these stories and how they fit into the broader tapestry of modern U.S. history. So I got to writing, and here it is.

Why did you choose the elections of 1912, 1932, 1968 and 1992 to focus on?

One choice was personal: I was a staff person on the Clinton-Gore campaign of 1992. But beyond that, it was hard to choose. One way or another, nearly every election is “pivotal.”

I passed up writing about some consequential election years — like 1948, when Strom Thurmond bolted from the Democrats to run as a states’-rights, pro-segregation candidate, or the legendary Kennedy-Nixon showdown of 1960, or the Reagan landslide of 1980. I did this partly because many people are already familiar with these stories. But my purpose also was to make a bigger point about how different election years and historical eras connect to one another.

The four elections also had three important things in common. They happened at a transformational moment of economic and cultural change: from farms to factories; from prosperity to depression; from establishment to counterculture; and from an age of manufacturing into a globalized, high-tech era. Successive waves of new media and technologies also defined each of these elections, from newspapers to radio to television to the cable news “spin cycle.” And, last, they vividly show how the core issues and constituencies of both Democrats and Republicans have changed over the century.

Three of these four races also had some sort of third-party spoiler. Even though they didn’t win, these political mavericks had a decisive effect on who did win on election day.

Speaking of third-party spoilers: You note historian ‘s comment, “Third parties are like bees. They sting, and then they die.” What lessons about third parties are to be learned from these four elections?

They show the durability of the two-party system, made possible by continual shifts and reinventions within the parties themselves. At the start of the 20th century, the Democrats were the party of the South, of small government and states’ rights, and home to some fiery populist attacks against an intellectual elite. The Republicans were the party of the urban Northeast and upper Midwest, home to advocates of government activism and reform, college-educated urbanites and African Americans.

Over the years, constituencies shifted due to demographic and economic change and in response to the issues and interests of third-parties and other insurgents. Both Socialist Eugene Debs and Progressive Teddy Roosevelt ran in 1912 on messages of reform and more robust government action; Woodrow Wilson’s Democratic Party incorporated many of these issues and ideas going forward. George Wallace’s 1968 attacks on “pointy-headed” government bureaucrats became potent talking points for Republicans from Nixon to Reagan and beyond. And Ross Perot’s folksy 1992 crusade raised the ante for both parties to appeal to the growing bloc of independent voters.

You write that the 1912 election showcased a new style of politics where “charisma and celebrity mattered, as Teddy Roosevelt’s journey showed.” What effect did “TR” and his outsized personality have on that and subsequent 20th century elections?

Teddy Roosevelt seized upon and came to embody a disruptive, modern style of campaigning that started to percolate at the end of the 19th century. Political reforms had lessened the power and sway of party insiders. The proverbial “smoke-filled rooms” where deals got done were still around, but now candidates themselves took a central role in presenting their platform to the voters. Personality mattered more. Issues and ideology mattered more. The rise of newspapers as a mass media contributed greatly to this. A candidate needed to be able to drop pithy quotes to reporters and make big speeches on the road that would get written up in local papers that evening.

Teddy Roosevelt excelled at this candidate-centered campaigning like no other before him. By 1912 the Rough Rider, ex-President and global adventurer was the biggest celebrity in America. When he lost the Republican nomination to the then-incumbent William Howard Taft (who himself ran a very old-fashioned “Rose Garden campaign” that involved few stump speeches and lots of back-room deals), he was able to buck the party machinery altogether and strike out as the leader of a new third party, the Progressive Party.

Today, presidential elections revolve so much around personality and “likability.” It’s no surprise that TR’s cousin, Franklin, would understand the power of having this kind of personal connection to voters, cultivating a similar persona through his famous “Fireside Chats” two decades later.

You relate an oddly prophetic quote by then-commerce secretary Herbert Hoover in 1926, years before the stock market crash: “Psychology plays a large part in business movements, and overoptimism can only land us on the shores of overdepression.” This is a more confident, competent Hoover than Americans learn about in school. Has history misunderstood Hoover? If so, in what way?

For sure, a lot about Hoover has been misunderstood or forgotten. This was a man who, up until the Great Depression, was renowned for his managerial skills and his talent for public communication. He has an amazing biography — a poor orphan from Oregon who became a self-made millionaire before the age of 40. President Wilson tapped Hoover to run the U.S. Food Administration during World War I. He was so effective at the job that his name became a verb: housewives “Hooverized” by rationing food to support the war effort. His fame and reputation for being “The Great Engineer” only grew after that.

Then the Depression hit, and it all fell apart. Hoover didn’t realize that the usual remedies would not fix the ailing economy. By the time his administration started to implement bigger, bolder government programs, it was too late to salvage Hoover’s political reputation. His name got affixed to something else that was a symbol of everything that had gone wrong: the shantytowns that sprung up in cities across the country (including Seattle) called “Hoovervilles.”

Richard Nixon fared poorly on television when vying with John F. Kennedy for the presidency in 1960. You write that the “historical resonance” of his 1968 election came in part from how he chose to deliver his message. How did Nixon use the media differently in 1968 to achieve victory?

The 1968 election was all about television. In 1960, Nixon had been a lackluster, sometimes disastrous television presence — stern in manner, flat in delivery and sweaty and combative under the hot lights of live debates.

When he began to consider another presidential run, Nixon hired high-powered Madison Avenue advertising executives — classic Mad Men — who packaged him as slickly as a brand of breakfast cereal. His television appearances were carefully scripted, from Q&A sessions with hand-picked questioners to campaign ads with jangly music, quick-cut visuals and Nixon’s authoritative voiceover.

Still, it wasn’t just the medium, but the message that won Nixon the presidency. He picked up messages that other Republicans — and some Democrats — were using to successfully appeal to a white, working- and middle-class constituency that was bewildered and fearful of all the social changes being beamed into their living rooms. Nixon spoke to a middle America that he called “the silent majority” and by doing so began to build a white, conservative constituency for the Republican Party that continues to this day.

Finally, what do you make of Donald Trump and the current election cycle? Is it possible, in your view, that the Republicans might nominate Trump, and that Americans might elect him? And if not, what’s going on?

Trump is the classic outsider candidate — as are other favorites like Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina and Bernie Sanders. This isn’t new, and it builds upon a suspicion of centralized government power that’s been in place since this country’s founding. America was created, after all, to escape the tyranny of kings!

Candidates from Wilson to FDR to Nixon to Clinton ran successfully as “outsider” alternatives to the political establishment. What’s really interesting this cycle is that a lack of any political experience is now a virtue rather than a liability.

It’s too early to tell how long Trump will endure. He has stuck around longer than many pundits expected (partly, of course, because pundits keep writing about him). It is clear that he has struck a chord with a certain segment of voters who — like the Debs and Roosevelt voters in 1912 and the Wallace voters in 1968 — are angry about how things are changing and want leaders who can deliver some bold solutions.

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For more information on “Pivotal Tuesdays,” contact O’Mara at momara@uw.edu. Follow her on Twitter at .