On the evening of September 20, 2023, in MSU Bozeman’s Student Union Ballroom A, The Burton K. Wheeler Center hosted historian, Marc C. Johnson as he discussed his latest book, Mansfield and Dirksen: Bipartisan Giants of the Senate. The lecture entitled “Montana, Mansfield, and the Lost Art of Bipartisanship,” began with an introduction by Burton K. Wheeler Center Board Chair, Chuck Tooley.

Some of the many achievements of Mike Mansfield’s leadership in the US Senate include: The Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty; Civil Rights Act; Voting Rights Act; Wilderness Act; Corporation for Public Broadcasting; Medicare/Medicaid; Gun Control Act; Food Stamp Act; Clean Air Act; Freedom of Information Act; Fair Housing Act; Highway Safety Act; Head Start.

Three days after the 9/11 attacks, CA Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee cast the sole vote against war in the entire Congress. She recognized that a “rush to launch precipitous military counterattacks runs too great a risk that more innocent men, women, children will be killed.” She faced isolation and opprobrium from huge pro-war majorities in the Congress and across the country. But she stood fast, and has remained a leader in the movement to repeal of the authorizations for war that George Bush launched twenty years ago.
But despite her isolation in Congress, Barbara Lee did not stand alone. Anti-war and other progressive organizations stood by her and mobilized powerful movements that over the years succeeded in transforming public opinion into widespread opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In this Zoom event, recorded on 9-8-21, organized by The Institute for Policy Studies, Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman interviews Representative Barbara Lee, along with questions from Diane Randall, General Secretary of the Friends Committee for National Legislation, Tope Folarin new executive director the Institute for Policy Studies, and Stephen Miles, executive director of Win Without War. It includes her speech on the floor of Congress before casting her vote against the war.

To read this 9/10/21 article by Barbara Lee, “Why are Americans paying $32m every hour for wars since 9/11?,” click on this link: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/sep/09/afghanistan-us-foreign-wars-congresswoman-barbara-lee

Thanks to The Institute for Policy Studies for permission to broadcast. You can find out more by going to their website, https://ips-dc.org/

The Burton K. Wheeler Center at Montana State University presented a day-long conference, “Divisiveness in Democracy: Enhancing Engagement in Montana,” about the changing political dynamics in Montana and the United States, held September 9-10, 2016. The conference explored the historical, political and social dynamics that drive divisiveness, and drew on up-and-coming politicians and political activists to identify opportunities and mechanisms to overcome divisiveness in contemporary politics.

Ted Celeste delivered the opening talk, entitled “Revive Civility: Our Democracy Depends on It.” Celeste, a former Ohio state representative, leads Next Generation, a project of the National Institute for Civil Discourse which holds workshops for state legislators called “Building Trust Through Civil Discourse”.

Conference Agenda:
Panel I. “How Did We Get Here: The Social, Political and Historical Elements of Divisiveness”
Panel II. “Finding Ways Forward: A Conversation with the Next Generation of Politicians and Activists”
Keynote Lecture: Pat Williams