All Inclusive* 4-Night Program Starting At:

$860/person - Double Occupancy

$1,160/person - Single Occupancy

* Includes lodging, meals, program activities and access to optional daily activities and recreational equipment. Learn More about the Great Camp Sagamore experience.

Program Overview

Presidential elections in the United States come with three guarantees. They happen every four years.  Their outcomes make about half of the country jubilant, and the other half feels despondent. And every election feels like the most important election of our lifetime.

But for all the fierce urgency of now, a longer look at United States history shows that some elections are truly transformative, and others more or less maintain the status quo, even if a different party takes power.  All elections have an impact on our country, but only some have really changed it.

Over the course of this five day program, guests will consider six elections that truly changed America – – by impacting its institutions, policy, meaning, and purpose. Each section will feature establishing lectures, group discussions, and guest speakers from top colleges and universities with years of expertise on the election and issues surrounding it.

Throughout the process, we will consider the traditions, ideals, and mores that have informed our political process from the start, and also those that have changed dramatically over time. And in all of these, of course, we will consider what those events of our national past may portend for our national present, and our national future.

Note: Great Camp Sagamore is a nonprofit institution with no official political stance or ideology. While guests are always encouraged to share their own perspectives, our conversations will be deliberate and work towards a perspective of pluralism. The goal of this seminar is not to be “right,” but rather to reflect on major changes in our national history.

Program Instructor

Connor Williams - Professional Historian

In addition to being Sagamore’s staff historian, Connor Williams is a formally trained American historian with degrees from Middlebury College, Dartmouth College, and Yale University. His past professional experience involves writing, speaking, teaching, consulting, and working for the United States Congress.  In all these pursuits, he has enjoyed being able to keep one foot in the traditions and standards of formal academia, and one foot in the exigencies and politics of the present. The Sagamore Seminars in History provide a terrific chance to share his varied experiences and expertise with terrific participants in an exceptional, historical, and rejuvenating setting.

All Program Sessions

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