- Monday, March 7, 2022
- 3:00 PM–4:15 PM
- Covenant Fine Arts Center Recital Hall
The idea that a Senator—Republican or Democrat—would put the greater good of the country ahead of party seems nearly impossible to imagine in our current climate of gridlock and divisiveness. But this hasn’t always been the case. Arthur H. Vandenberg (1884–1951), Republican from Grand Rapids, Michigan, was the model of a consensus builder, and the coalitions he spearheaded continue to form the foundation of American foreign and domestic policy today. Please join author Hank Meijer for a presentation on how Arthur Vandenberg forged a consensus that helped make the American Century.
Hank Meijer is executive chairman of Meijer, Inc. in Grand Rapids. He joined the family retail business at the age of 11 as a grocery clerk. After serving as a reporter for a Detroit-area newspaper group, he became editor and later publisher of a weekly newspaper in Plymouth, Michigan. He rejoined Meijer in 1979 as assistant advertising director. In 1984, he published Thrifty Years, a biography of Hendrik Meijer, the company’s founder and his grandfather. His biography of Michigan Senator Arthur Vandenberg was recently published by the University of Chicago Press.
You can watch it online here: https://vimeo.com/event/1138985 or https://youtu.be/CBZcsOYJQEM
