RNC chairman Reince Priebus speaks at The Presidency 2012 series at Chicago Harris

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Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, was invited to speak as part of Presidency 2012: The Purposes of Government, a series of forums conducted by the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy Studies. Here, he greets the audience before his speech on Wednesday, Nov. 16.

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In his Chicago Harris speech, Priebus pointed out that the fundamental question of 2012 is what are "the purposes of government? “It's about protecting freedom," he answered. "It’s about guaranteeing equality of opportunity ... To me, government exists not to make our lives better for us; it exists so that we have the ability to make ours better for ourselves.”

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Students and faculty, including Jacob Rabinowitz (right), a second-year economics undergraduate, listened as Priebus spoke at Chicago Harris. "There is one thing we can all agree on," Priebus told the audience. "We face a daunting set of challenges. And if we don’t find solutions today, the very idea of America – about what we stand for – will be lost along the way. But there is absolutely no problem that is insurmountable. No problem we cannot fix."

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Chicago Harris masters student Matt Gee asked Priebus whether he would have held a Republican president culpable for the current state of the economy. Priebus said he would have.

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Priebus, far left, accepts a T-shirt bearing the likeness of his favorite economist, Milton Friedman, from fourth-year economics student Stephen Sunderman, who is president of the College Republicans on campus. During his speech, Priebus highlighted one of the economist’s famous quotes: “One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.” Others in the photo are College students (from left), first-year Arianna Wilkerson, fourth-year Jeremy Rozansky and second-year Jacob Rabinowitz.

November 16, 2011

Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, discussed his outlook on the 2012 election and the choices voters will face as part of Presidency 2012: The Purposes of Government, a series of forums conducted by the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy Studies. The event was held on Wednesday, Nov. 16.

The Presidency 2012 series brings presidential candidates, campaign strategists and influential policy practitioners to Chicago Harris to present their views on major policy issues and the purposes of government in the United States. The non-partisan series provides an equal opportunity to all presidential candidates who wish to participate.