Pulitzer Prize-winner Maureen Dowd shared insights into the men who campaign for the highest office in the land during a Nov. 7 lecture.
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It’s hard to understand all of the influences that shape the way an American president views himself and his job, and as New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd points out, President Barack Obama is no exception.
During a 2008 interview with Obama, as he asked for a moment alone away from aides to speak with Dowd about how “irritating” she was, “I realized it would be tough job being this president’s shrink.” Yet that hasn’t kept her from probing the inner thoughts of the 44th president of the United States, much like she has with other commanders-in-chief she’s covered as a journalist throughout her career.
Dowd spoke Nov. 7 to a sold-out McCrary Theatre filled with students, faculty, community members and other friends of the university for the 2012 Baird Pulitzer Prize Lecture at Elon University. Her presentation took place less than a day after Obama won re-election in a hotly contested campaign against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
Here are some excerpts from her speech: