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Dr. Julia Azari: Backlash Presidents
Join us on July 17 at noon (PT) as we welcome special guest Julia Azari, PhD to discuss her latest book Backlash Presidents: From Transformative to Reactionary Leaders in American History.
Click here to watch this virtual presentation.
Dr. Julia Azari is Professor in the Department of Political Science at Marquette University. She holds Ph.D., M.A. and M.Phil. degrees in political science from Yale University, and a B.A. in political science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research and teaching interests include the American presidency, American political parties, political communication and American political developm
ent. Her research has been supported by the Marquette University Regular Research Grant, the Harry Middleton Fellowship in Presidential Studies, the Gerald Ford Presidential Library Foundation Travel Grant, the Harry Truman Library Institute Scholars Award, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Library of Congress.
Prof. Azari is a regular contributor at the political science blog The Mischiefs of Faction. Her work has also appeared in the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog and in Politico.
Winner of the Richard E. Neustadt Award, Julia Azari’s Backlash Presidents reveals a recurring pattern in American history: administrations that challenge the racial status quo are systematically followed by successors who weaponize racially charged politics and executive lawlessness, leading to impeachment crises.
By pairing Abraham Lincoln with Andrew Johnson, Lyndon Johnson with Richard Nixon, and Barack Obama with Donald Trump, Azari traces how normal presidential politics upholds an unsustainable racial hierarchy. The book demonstrates how these backlash presidencies trigger intense instability, weaponize federal institutions, and perpetuate systemic inequalities even after impeachment.