With the historic 2008 Presidential Election having reached its conclusion, Villanova University hosted a comprehensive full-day conference examining the presidency of George W. Bush.

On Nov. 22, in Connelly Center, 21 prominent social scientists and practitioners from around the country representing diverse political views explored the Bush presidency and administration.

Free and open to the public, the conference was sponsored by Villanova University, the University of Arkansas and the University of Southern Mississippi.

Highlighting the conference’s slate of speakers were John J. Dilulio, Alvin S. Felzenberg and William A. Galston.

Dilulio, former director of the White House’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, provided the keynote address titled “Mayberry Machiavellis After All? Why Judging George W. Bush’s Presidency Is Never So Easy as It Seems.”

Felzenberg, who served as principal spokesman for the 9/11 commission, has held several positions in the Bush Administration, including adviser to the U.S. Departments of Defense and State.

Galston, a prominent political scientist, was a domestic policy adviser for the Clinton Administration.

The conference also featured Villanova faculty members Lara Brown and Michael Moreland.

Brown, an assistant professor in the political science department, is an expert on topics such as presidential aspirants, political parties, congressional incumbents and national elections.

Moreland is an assistant professor in the Villanova School of Law.

Before joining the Villanova faculty, he was associate director for domestic policy at the White House.

In this position, he was responsible for coordinating policy development on a range of legal issues, including immigration, crime, civil rights and tort reform.

Robert Maranto, a former Villanova political science faculty member who recently accepted the 21st Century Chair in Leadership in the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas, participated in the conference in addition to serving as one of the conference’s directors.

A book based on the conference will be published by Stanford University Press in 2009.