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University Public Lecture (online): What If 2016 Was the Most Consequential Election in American History
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What if 2016 was the most consequential election in American history?
Every election matters and this year US presidential race is no different. Given President Trump’s controversial first term record, and more recently, his poor handling of the health pandemic, no wonder Democratic candidate, Joe Biden, has called this election the last chance to save American democracy. But COVID-19, the economic crisis it precipitated, and the Black Lives Matter protests have only exacerbated and highlighted issues that have plagued American politics and society for decades now. Trump is not a historical anomaly.
What if 2016 altered forever the character of the nation? In this lecture, historian Mara Oliva looks at the political, economic and social reasons behind Trump’s rise to power, the impact of his election on democracy at home and abroad and what this means for 2020.
Mara Oliva is Associate Professor of US political history at the University of Reading.
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