Crash Course

Instructors

President W. Taylor Reveley IV and Dr. William Harbour, associate professor of political science

Presidential expertise

Reveley previously was managing director of the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, a nonpartisan institute devoted to the study of the presidency. This is the third semester that he has co-taught the course, offered every fall; Harbour has taught the course for decades.

Making the material come alive

"President Reveley is a student of presidential biographies, and, due to his work at the Miller Center, he knows some of the people who wrote the textbooks we use in class,” said Harbour. “As the coordinating attorney for the National War Powers Commission, which is part of the course, he has interviewed some of the people who worked with recent presidents, like Jim Baker.”

Teamwork paying off

The co-instructors’ growing ability to play to each other’s strengths in the classroom has yielded dividends, said Harbour. “We’re better able to toss the discussion back and forth, so the course gets better every time we teach together. We have different styles. He’s more reserved, more thoughtful, more cautious in his commentary, while I tend to be outlandish, to overdramatize.”

Trivia buff

Reveley also brings to class his “unbelievable” memory for presidential trivia, said Harbour. He named the college from which every president graduated, which amazed the students.”

Suggested reading

The Contemporary American President (first edition), Robert E. Diclerico Understanding the Presidency (seventh edition), James Pfiffner and Roger H. Davidson The American Presidency (seventh edition), Sidney M. Milkis and Michael Nelson