On Presidential Leadership and Moral Responsibility
26 December 2025

On Presidential Leadership and Moral Responsibility

CFR On the Record

About

In this episode, panelists discuss examples of U.S. presidents leveraging executive power to confront political violence, human rights abuses, and other global challenges, highlighting the ways in which presidential leadership has shaped the United States’ legacy of responsibility.


 


Host: Jacob M. Weisberg, Executive Chair, Pushkin Industries; Chair, Committee to Protect Journalists


 


Guests: Meena Bose, Executive Dean, Public Policy and Public Service Programs and Director, Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency, Kalikow School of Government, Public Policy and International Affairs, Hofstra University; CFR Member


 


David J. Scheffer, Senior Fellow, CFR


 


Ruti G. Teitel, Ernst C. Stiefel Professor of Comparative Law and Codirector, Center for International Law, New York Law School


 


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To keep tabs on all CFR events, visit cfr.org/event. To watch this event, please visit it on our YouTube channel: Reckoning with History: Presidential Leadership and Moral Responsibility.