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URL: http://news-info.wustl.edu/sb/page/normal/567.html
Associate Professor of History in Arts & Sciences
- Associate professor, American Culture Studies (http://news-info.wustl.edu/group/page/normal/11.html)
- Associate professor, History (http://news-info.wustl.edu/group/page/normal/29.html)
Expertise: Role of the vice president, American political institutions, the American presidency, the Founding Fathers, federal governance and governing foreign peoples, American foreign policy in 19th century, early American republic, United States history, political culture, American frontier, early Republic, cultural history, North American borderlands, Louisiana Purchase, expansion along the Lewis and Clark Trail, the history of Louisiana, nationalism, frontier life, pioneer life, territorial expansion
Bio:
One of Kastor's courses this fall is "Americans & Their Presidents," a seminar for 17 freshman from around the country who will be voting in their first presidential election Nov. 4. The course examines not only the political and institutional role of the presidency, but also the ways that Americans have conceived of the presidency — and the vice presidency — as part of daily life and popular culture. Kastor's recent research interests center on the role of the presidency in defining how Americans understand themselves, their country and their perception on the world stage.
"My goal is to think beyond the voting behavior, campaign strategies and policymaking objectives that are of greatest interest to politicians, pundits and political scientists alike. Instead, I want to explore how Americans understand the presidency and how the institution of president and vice president define the way we understand ourselves. That process means not only thinking about average voters, but also the ways those assumptions inform how those politicians, pundits and political scientists approach the challenge of analyzing the presidency."
Kastor's research concerns the creation and growth of American political institutions during the early American republic, with a particular focus on how the practicalities of governance shape the ways Americans understand politics, citizenship and culture. One of Kastor's current courses is "Americans and their Presidents." This course examines not only the political and institutional role of the presidency, but also the ways that Americans have conceived of the presidency — and the vice presidency — as part of daily life and popular culture.
WUSTL Contact Information:
Education:
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Ph.D. at University of Virginia
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M.A. at University of Virginia
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A.B. at Franklin & Marshall
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Flashback to 1952?
For all the talk of change, the candidates and campaigns are similar to elections throughout the years, says history and culture expert (http://news-info.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/12519.html)
Sept. 26,
2008 --
"These are unprecedented candidates in an unusual election year, but what's striking is how these candidates are positioning themselves and describing themselves in ways very similar to previous presidential candidates, and in ways that are very typical of their parties," says Peter Kastor, Ph.D., history and American culture studies professor at Washington University in St. Louis.
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Sacagawea pregnant — again?
There's more than meets the eye in Lewis & Clark's journals (http://news-info.wustl.edu/tips/page/normal/820.html)
April 7,
2004 --
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| The Sacagawea Golden Dollar |
As the nation commemorates the 200th anniversary of the 1804-06 Lewis and Clark Expedition, the explorers' journals, which offer a veritable treasure trove of information, are being scrutinized as never before. Two historians at Washington University in St. Louis say, however, that most scholars studying the journals aren't familiar with the literature of the time, and therefore don't thoroughly understand the content. For example, Lewis writes that Sacagawea, the only woman on the expedition, became extremely ill due to her "taking could" (sic). Most reading that passage interpreted it as "taking a cold. The Washington University researchers think that actually she was pregnant again and had a miscarriage because "taking a cold" was a euphemism for pregnancy back then.
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Iraqi connection to Louisiana Purchase
U.S. approach to governing Iraqis echoes concepts introduced after America's first acquisition of a foreign land (http://news-info.wustl.edu/tips/page/normal/198.html)
May 7,
2003 --
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| Kastor is editor of The Louisiana Purchase: Emergence of an American Nation. |
The challenges faced by today's U.S. government officials in Iraq are plentiful. Having ejected the government of Saddam Hussein, U.S. representatives must now spearhead the organization of a new system led by Iraqis to meet the needs of their country's multi-religious and multi-ethnic population. This effort comes at the bicentennial of America's first effort to govern foreign peoples. Two hundred years ago — with the end of negotiations for the Louisiana Purchase in Paris on April 30, 1803 — a fledgling U.S. government faced similar circumstances and even greater challenges, according to Peter J. Kastor, Ph.D., assistant professor of history and American Culture Studies in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.
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Did Sacagawea have a miscarriage?
MSNBC
and 39 others
April 9,
2004 --
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| The Sacagawea Golden Dollar |
Famed American Indian guide Sacagawea's near-fatal illness during the Lewis and Clark expedition may have been the result of a miscarriage, two scholars believe. History professors Peter Kastor and Conevery Bolton Valencius said the explorers' extensive journals from their 1804-06 westward expedition offer clues — through euphemisms common at the time — indicating Sacagawea may have become ill while pregnant.
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Additional Background: With presidential campaigns, he's interested in how candidates portray themselves as public figures and private individuals, and the ways those portrayals reveal the ways Americans think about leadership, politics and family life. Likewise, he is interested in the ways that pundits and commentators in turn "force candidates to fit their own preconceived notions of politicians." He says these can be direct or implicit. "There are examples like the obvious comparison of JFK's Catholicism and Mitt Romney's Mormonism or the combination of enthusiasm and ambivalence that journalists have brought with them as they explore the unusual family circumstances of all the presidential and vice presidential candidates," says Kastor.
Kastor says one of the issue he's most interested in is the influence of regions and regionalism on political races. He addresses how regional cultural styles inform the way candidates define themselves for voters -- to say "here's who I am" to voters. "Some great examples are Bill Clinton and George W. Bush's use of a particular southern vernacular, John Kerry and Michael Dukakis' unapologetic New England formality, or George H.W. Bush's awkward effort to combine his New England roots with his adopted home of Texas," says Kastor.
Kastor also discusses how Missouri offers a great example of how various regional issues and themes sometimes collide in one place. He addresses, for instance, how various religious issues (stem cell and abortion restrictions) and regional issues (rural v. urban influences) are used strategically to bring Missouri voters to the polls.
"Missouri has a reputation as a bellwether state and in terms of the intersection of regional influences, Missouri is where the rubber meets the road," Kastor suggests. "Missouri is the Gateway to the West, but it also has a lot in common with rural states, such as Iowa, and Rustbelt states like Illinois and Michigan. It also has a very strong Southern influence. It's very close to both Arkansas and Texas."
Kastor is currently at work on "Creating a Federal Government," a book that explores how the Founding Fathers converted the principles of the Constitution into the institutions of government.
Kastor's earlier work examined American expansion in the early 19th century, the Louisiana Purchase and Lewis and Clark, about whom he has lectured extensively. In his 2004 book, "The Nation's Crucible: The Louisiana Purchase and the Creation of America," Kastor argues that the process of resolving what would become of the Louisiana Purchase transformed the way people conceived of what it meant to be American. It established the meaning of nationhood, reconfigured relationships between the federal government and far-flung territories, and changed how people throughout North America would see themselves in relation to larger communities.
"What should the U.S. government do when it faces the daunting challenge of governing a foreign people who speak different languages, worship unfamiliar religions, and threaten violent resistance to the United States?" queries Kastor. "That question may sound like it's coming from today's headlines, but it actually refers to the situation two centuries ago, when the United States acquired Louisiana. For the first time, Americans faced the challenge of governing foreign people."
In Louisiana, the United States faced the daunting task of governing foreign people in a distant land who threatened to cause both violent revolt and international conflict. The connections to the current challenges facing the United States in countries like Iraq and Afghanastan are no mere coincidence, Kastor explains, because they emerge from the same assumptions about the United States and its role in the world. Those connections are the subject of "America's Struggle With Empire," a document collection to by published by CQ Press that will chronicle how the United States has attempted to govern foreign territory and foreign people.
Kastor has spoken widely and has appeared on media outlets including The History Channel and The Higher Education Channel as well as served as an expert for several documentaries.
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