Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The George Washington Leadership Lecture Series presents Creating Presidential Precedents: The Foundations of the Republic.
The presidency is largely based on precedent, norm, and custom. George Washington established critical precedents that served as the foundation for the executive branch. But Washington’s position and prestige were so unparalleled that Americans questioned whether the office would work for anyone else. Washington may have created the office, but John Adams defined it. They then worked together to craft the foundational touchstone of the republic—the peaceful transfer of power.
Please join us for a conversation between USC Price Professor David Sloane and Lindsay M. Chervinsky, the Executive Director of the George Washington Presidential Library, as they examine the presidencies of George Washington and John Adams and how their leadership and legacies defined the office for those who followed and ensured the survival of our American republic.
The George Washington Leadership Lecture Series presents Creating Presidential Precedents: The Foundations of the Republic.
The presidency is largely based on precedent, norm, and custom. George Washington established critical precedents that served as the foundation for the executive branch. But Washington’s position and prestige were so unparalleled that Americans questioned whether the office would work for anyone else. Washington may have created the office, but John Adams defined it. They then worked together to craft the foundational touchstone of the republic—the peaceful transfer of power.
Please join us for a conversation between USC Price Professor David Sloane and Lindsay M. Chervinsky, the Executive Director of the George Washington Presidential Library, as they examine the presidencies of George Washington and John Adams and how their leadership and legacies defined the office for those who followed and ensured the survival of our American republic.
