Professor Stephen Dow Beckham: Alumni 4 at 5 Lecture Series - Theodore Roosevelt

The first lecture in the 4 at 5 Lecture Series Featuring Pamplin Professor Emeritus Stephen Dow Beckham, an exciting collection of four history lectures presented at 5:00 P.M. Pacific Time on the second Wednesday of each month, February - May, 2026.. This series offers an historical deep dive into people and events associated with a variety of geographical regions with the aim of bringing our community together from across the nation. To register to attend future lectures in the series, visit: https://college.lclark.edu/offices/alumni/virtual-events-and-programmin… and look for the 4 at 5 Lecture Series Featuring Pamplin Professor Emeritus Stephen Dow Beckham.

About the lecture: Theodore Roosevelt: A Model for Modern Presidential Leadership - Hosted by the L&C Minnesota and Midwest Plains Alumni Chapter: Today, both major political parties lay claim to Theodore Roosevelt. This lecture explores Roosevelt’s commitment to “The Man in the Arena”—a remarkable record of service in public office driven by strong ethics, a reliance on informed advisers, and a steadfast commitment to reform. Roosevelt wrested the United States into the 20th century and toward world power. He endorsed women’s suffrage, was a pioneer of conservation (establishing national parks, wildlife refuges, and national forests), won the Nobel Peace Prize, and secured federal regulatory authority over trusts, railroads, banking, and commerce.
Prof. Beckham is a founding and continuing member of the board of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation. On July 4, 2026, as part of the “America 250” celebrations, the board will mark the opening of a $363 million library featuring $42 million in exhibits at Theodore Roosevelt National Park in Medora, North Dakota. Roosevelt, a Harvard-educated New Yorker, once remarked: “I never would have become president had I not lived in North Dakota.”