by Mary Radigan
June 16, 2009

From left: Center Director Gleaves Whitney, The Nation Editor Katrina vanden Heuvel, Ralph Hauenstein and National Review Editor Rich Lowry. Photo courtesy Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies.

Mix a passionate, civic-minded philanthropist with a politically savvy historian and what do you get? How about one of the leading centers for American presidential studies, one that sprang up in Grand Rapids out of virtually nothing only a few years ago.

The philanthropist is Ralph W. Hauenstein, a successful businessman whose fascinating life could be fodder for a movie script. Instead, at 97 years old, Hauenstein uses his life experiences to promotes the importance of good leadership through the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies, which he helped establish in 2001.

The historian is Gleaves Whitney, a writer who crafted speeches for Governor John Engler and helped create the Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries during Engler’s tenure.

Part of Grand Valley State University’s campus in downtown Grand Rapids, the Hauenstein Center has grown to become one of the top presidential studies institutions in the country, hosting more than 200 programs and such renowned speakers as Rich Lowry, editor of National Review, and Katrina vandenHeuvel, editor of The Nation. The two editors came together under the Hauenstein banner this spring to debate the first 100 days of President Barack Obama. There have also been best-selling author Robert N. Rosen; Dan Rather, former CBS Evening News anchor; and Michael Scheuer, former head of the CIA’s Bin Laden Unit, just to name a few.

Many of the center’s conferences and debates are in partnership with The Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum and the Gerald R. Ford Foundation, both located in Grand Rapids, home of the country’s 38th president. They have attracted everyone from U.S. presidents to statesmen to notable scholars as the Hauenstein Center has played host for topics which transcend history and current events.

Passion
Ralph Hauenstein’s passion is fostered by a career which included military service as the U.S. Army’s chief of intelligence in Europe under General Dwight D. Eisenhower. He witnessed the horror of Nazi concentration camps, and in 1945 was one of the first Americans into liberated Paris and a defeated Germany. Later, he was an entrepreneur in international trade throughout Europe and the Middle East and a business builder and job trainer for underdeveloped countries and workers.

All of this was instrumental in Hauenstein’s conviction that there were better solutions for peace and prosperity, which he has spent his life pursuing. To this day, the Fort Wayne, Indiana, native is active in many civic activities and contributes to several charitable causes, but one of his shining stars is an ongoing mission to encourage a new generation of dedicated public servants.

He donated $1 million to help fund the nonprofit Hauenstein Center and continues his support.

“I’ve experienced many things in my life and knew we had to cultivate the young people because we need good leaders,” says Hauenstein, who has called Michigan home since moving to Grand Rapids with his family when he was 12 years old. “I’m very interested in leadership, and this is a place to start.”

The center has a roster of speakers into 2010, with more being added. This year the country is hosting many events surrounding Abraham Lincoln’s bicentennial celebration, and the center has joined in by sponsoring several programs.

“We have some of the most anticipated events in the country,” says Whitney, the Hauenstein Center’s director. “Through creative programming we have put on very exciting conferences and debates that are relevant to what our citizens and leaders want to know.”

Whitney served as chief historian as well as speechwriter for Gov. Engler. He is a Fulbright scholar, author and editor, and in 2001 helped the third-term governor establish the new state department consolidating the government’s involvement in libraries, history and the arts. In 2003 Whitney became the first full-time director of the Hauenstein Center.

His aggressive entrepreneurial spirit and quest for excellence have created a successful program deemed “a jewel in the crown of Michigan” by noted presidential historian Richard Norton Smith. The former director of the Ford Museum, Smith was the center’s part-time director when it began (before he left Michigan to run the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas and, later, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois).

Whitney said the center has accomplished far more than people expected in six years. Four programs have been televised to a national audience over C-SPAN, three events were webcast internationally and one has been watched on YouTube by more than 65,000 people in 30 countries.

“We’ve had a conference in Washington, D.C., and four books have come out of the conferences,” he adds. “Half of our National Park Service facilities are historic sites, and we have many creative partnerships with them. It creates job opportunities for our GVSU students, and I’m very proud of the ongoing relationship, because it all contributes to our heritage.”

The Hauenstein Center’s website, allpresidents.org, generates more than 21,000 visitors and one million page views per month and has been recognized by such publications as The New York Times, U.S. News and World Report, Newsweek, Canada’s Sunday Globe & Mail, The Chronicle of Higher Education and National Review. Google ranks the site as one of the highest-rated presidential studies sites in the world.

The center also sponsors the Peter Cook Leadership Academy for a diversified group of students from GVSU. Fellows gain insight from scholars, mixed with training from professionals. They’ve met with U.S. presidents, vice presidents, national and state officials, Pulitzer Prize winners, decorated academics and various celebrities.

Library
The Hauenstein Center is recognized for its one-of-a-kind library, which contains the J. Randall Bergers Presidential Studies Collection. It holds more than 500 original works by the country’s 44 chief executives, with most of them first editions and many of them signed by the author. The Library of Congress has deemed the collection “a uniquely valuable resource.”

Whitney is given much of the credit for putting together an outstanding series of events, even in these difficult economic times and reduced funding. With an annual budget of around $500,000, the center is faced with reduced support, especially through the public sector.

Whitney says a shrinking budget will force the center to rethink its programs, since he is expecting multi-year cuts in its state and university financial support. But he adds, “We have been aggressive in building our endowment fund and now stand at the $3-million point. We have a variety of sources, such as foundations, private donors and visitors who attend our events and just stick a $100 check in the mail.”

Elaine Didier, director of the Ford Presidential Library and Museum, which provides the space for several programs, says the partnership with the Hauenstein Center is mutually beneficial. The non-partisan approach, a stellar list of speakers and events and an internationally recognized website bring attention to both institutions.

“I think interest has increased and our collaboration with other foundations and presidential museums would make [President Gerald R.] Ford so pleased to see us engage people in public discussions about important issues,” Didier adds. “We are honored to partner with Grand Valley and the Hauenstein Center.”

Didier says the public shouldn’t notice much difference in what will be a leaner year in 2010 because of the decrease in funding endowments.

“But people just take the series and events for granted and don’t think about the expense for speakers, airfare, hotels and restaurants,” she says. “We have a Friends of Ford membership to help support this.”

The membership also provides special opportunities not available to the general public, she adds. (More information can be found at geraldrfordfoundation.org or by calling 616.254.0396.)

Joe Calvaruso, executive director of the Gerald R. Ford Foundation, says the center’s programs have been well received and that global economic events and crises have increased interest in the presidency. The foundation and the center hold a mutual goal to communicate the role of the legacies left by Ford and other presidents.

Upcoming Events
Sept. 15 – The American Dream, Exhibit A: Abraham Lincoln

Sept. 17 – Rushmore Live: A Constitution Day Celebration

Sept. 29 – The Rise of Abraham Lincoln

Oct. 12–13 – Eighty Years after Black Tuesday: The Great Depression & Today’s Economic Crisis

Oct. 20 – Herb Meyer, national security expert, Challenges of Foreign Policy and Immigration

Feb. 11, 2010 – Biographer Ron White on Abraham Lincoln

For more information: www.allpresidents.org or call 616.331.2770

“We plan to continue our level of support because we feel it’s very important for the students and the public to have these events we help sponsor,” Calvaruso adds. “Gleaves raises the level of awareness out there in a non-partisan way, and that’s super.”

Ralph Hauenstein is not worried.

“Gleaves is one of the better things we have going for us, with outstanding leadership and a perfect fit for the center’s purpose,” says Hauenstein. “He knows how to bring in the academics of leadership, he’s an experienced historian on the presidents and we couldn’t have a better person. The progress has been terrific and I’m delighted.”

Not one to sit on his laurels, Hauenstein would like to help establish a speaker’s bureau filled with the students involved in the Leadership Academy. In recent months they’ve listened to the likes of: Hank Meijer, CEO and co-chairman of Meijer Inc.; The Rev. Robert Sirico, co-founder and president of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty; and Steven Ford, son of President Gerald Ford. His goal is to have the students share their academy experiences with service and community groups.

“I watch the young people develop and that’s the ultimate satisfaction,” Hauenstein adds. “Down the line, all of this will result in something good for all of us.”

Mary Radigan is an award-winning journalist whose work includes 26 years as a columnist and reporter for The Grand Rapids Press until her retirement last year.