Smith takes final KU bow

Dole Institute director confident in future of center

Richard Norton Smith used his final lecture as director of the Dole Institute of Politics to ease fears about the institute’s future.

“My departure means very little in the historical direction and usefulness of the Dole Institute of Politics,” he said Sunday night at the Lied Center. “I know great things are going to happen at the institute.”

Smith, the final speaker in this year’s Presidential Lecture Series, ends his two-year stint at the Dole Institute next week, when he becomes director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Ill. Steve McAllister, dean of the Kansas University school of law, takes over as interim director.

A crowd of about 1,700 came to see Smith’s last KU appearance. The audience gave him a standing ovation at the end of the lecture.

“He was probably the catalyst to put together the Dole Institute to be a well-rounded outreach resource,” said Bill Woods, of Lawrence. “He laid the foundation.”

During his lecture, Smith offered only muted criticism for KU administrators, who he has said had stifled creativity at the Dole Institute.

“My time at KU, contrary to what some of you may have heard, includes a preponderance of happy memories,” he said.

The heart of Smith’s speech was “Ten Rules to Judge a President.” He drew from his knowledge as a nationally known presidential historian, author and director of four presidential libraries.

Among his rules:

Richard Norton Smith, outgoing director of the Dole Institute of Politics, walks on stage holding a sign poking fun at anti-gay activist Fred Phelps, of Topeka. Smith's lecture Sunday evening at the Lied Center completed the 2003 Presidential Lecture Series. Smith will take over Dec. 1 as director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Ill.

  • History rewards risk-takers.

Whether it’s Thomas Jefferson making the Louisiana Purchase or Bill Clinton breaking party lines to support NAFTA, “the path of least resistance does not lead to Mount Rushmore,” Smith said.

  • Any president who actively campaigns for his place in history is engaged in a self-defeating exercise.

“History is not a focus group,” Smith said, “nor can it be massaged by spin doctors.”

  • Besides political acumen and gyroscopic balance, the presidency requires a talent for making useful enemies.

Examples include Ronald Reagan campaigning against big government and Harry Truman fighting against military supremacy by firing Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Smith said.

In the end, Smith said, “greatness, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.”

For that reason, George W. Bush’s judgment historically likely will vary depending on who writes that history.

So far, Bush will be known for centralizing power in the wake of the 9-11 terrorist attacks — which flies in the face of his campaign pledges to continue Reagan-era government cutbacks — and for departing from traditional military policies by attacking Iraq.

“We will not know for many years whether George W. Bush anticipated or misjudged the historical wave,” he said, “but we already know this is an important president, which is more than we’ve known three years into many presidencies.”

As he walked on stage for his lecture, Smith carried a sign saying “God Hates Fred.” It was a reference to Fred Phelps, the Topeka attorney and minister whose anti-gay followers have picketed each of this year’s Presidential Lecture Series events.

The audience gave Smith a minutelong ovation as he walked to the podium.

“I’ll never know if that was for me or my sign,” he quipped.