PHOTO CREDIT: Courtesy of Brennan Center for Justice
“Having free and fair elections whose results are accepted and implemented is foundational for constitutional democracies,” said Alex Tuckness, chair of the Department of Political Science, which sponsors the annual event. “We are thrilled to have such a national recognized expert come to Iowa State to help us learn more about these issues.”
Waldman is a constitutional lawyer and writer who is an expert on the presidency and American democracy. He has led the Brennan Center—a leading national voice on voting rights, money in politics, criminal justice reform, and constitutional law—since 2005. He was a member of the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States in 2021.
Waldman was director of speechwriting for President Bill Clinton from 1995 to 1999, responsible for writing or editing nearly two thousand speeches, including four State of the Union and two inaugural addresses, and was special assistant to the president for policy coordination from 1993 to 1995. He is the author of The Briefing, a weekly newsletter with 70,000 subscribers, and several books, including “The Supermajority: How the Supreme Court Divided America” (2023, rev. ed. 2024); “The Fight to Vote” (2016, reissued in 2022); and “The Second Amendment: A Biography” (2014). He appears frequently on television and radio to discuss policy, the presidency, and the law. He is a graduate of Columbia College and NYU School of Law.
“Michael Waldman is a respected expert on election laws. It’s an honor to bring him to campus,” said Karen M. Kedrowski, director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics and professor of political science. Since 2016, the Catt Center has worked with the Manatt family to bring speakers to campus for the lecture.
Additional co-sponsors of this year’s lecture include the Catt Center and the Committee on Lectures (funded by Student Government).
The Manatt-Phelps Lecture series, established in 2002 by the late Ambassador Charles T. Manatt and Kathleen Manatt and Thomas and Elizabeth Phelps, brings to campus a prominent practitioner or scholar to address the ISU community on issues of significance to the United States and to Iowa.