Sen. Rand Paul, former Vice President Al Gore and former Sen. Rick Santorum will visit the University of Chicago in the coming weeks as part of the Institute of Politics’ spring speaker series.
Although the talks are sold out, each can be viewed via webcast at UChicago Live.
Paul, a Republican senator from Kentucky, will discuss his vision for the GOP in a conversation with Institute of Politics Director David Axelrod at 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 22 at the Ida Noyes Cloister Club.
Paul was on Time magazine’s annual list of the most influential people in the world in 2013 and won the presidential straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference last month. At an IOP event this month, POLITICO President and CEO Jim VandeHei called Paul “the most interesting Republican politician” today.
Gore, who served as vice president under President Bill Clinton, is currently an author and environmental activist. In 2007 he received a Nobel Peace Prize for his work in promoting awareness of climate change. His UChicago event will take place at 6 p.m. Monday, May 12 at the Chicago Theological Seminary, 1407 E. 60th St.
A native of Pennsylvania, Rick Santorum served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1991 to 1995 and the Senate from 1995 to 2007. An accomplished author, Santorum penned Rick Santorum in 2005, It Takes a Family in 2006 and American Patriots in 2012. At UChicago, he will discuss his new book, Blue Collar Conservatives, which provides a game plan for Republicans to bounce back, regain popularity and return to the party’s original values. The discussion will begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 7 at the Quadrangle Club.
For the Spring Quarter, featured speakers include Adm. Mike Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell; former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Jalil Abbas Jilani, Pakistani Ambassador to the U.S.; and Sen. Bernie Sanders.
The Institute of Politics, officially launched in January 2013, has presented more than 200 guest speakers in the 15 months. In addition to its speaker series, it has an extensive internship program and a fellows program, in which the Institute hosts politicians, journalists and policymakers on campus for an academic quarter. Current fellows include Michael Steele, former Republican Party chairman; Ana Marie Cox, columnist for The Guardian; former Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.); Roger Simon, POLITICO chief political columnist David Muir, former political strategist for former U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown; and Howard Wolfson, former deputy mayor for New York.
For a full list of spring 2014 events visit http://politics.uchicago.edu.
—Prof. Jacqueline Stewart
