Esteemed Political Journalist Thomas DeFrank to Speak at the University of Rochester

Thomas DeFrank, the veteran political journalist and best-selling author considered among the foremost president-watchers in the country, will speak about the current presidential race at the University of Rochester on Thursday, Feb. 7.

Visiting the River Campus two days after so-called Super Tuesday, when 24 states are scheduled to hold either caucuses or primary elections, DeFrank will discuss how the results will shape the general election in November and what they suggest about the electorate.

His address, "The 2008 Presidential Campaign: A Reporter's Notebook," which is open to the public and will include a question-and-answer session, will take place at 5 p.m. in the Welles-Brown Room of the Rush Rhees Library.

DeFrank will also be available to answer questions from the media between 2:30 and 3:15 p.m., and to sign copies of his latest book, the best-selling, Write It When I'm Gone: Remarkable Off-the-Record Conversations with Gerald R. Ford (2007) at 4:30 p.m. Both will take place in the Welles-Brown Room.

His visit is part of the "Politics & Media Constructions: Anticipating the 2008 Election" Spring Speaker Series sponsored by the University's Humanities Project.

The Washington bureau chief of the New York Daily News, DeFrank has been covering the White House since 1970, chronicling the resignation of a president, the impeachment of a second, and two assassination attempts against a third. The 2008 presidential campaign marks the eleventh he has covered.

DeFrank is the co-author of Bare Knuckles and Back Rooms, the 1996 best-selling memoir of controversial Republican political consultant Ed Rollins, and Quest for the Presidency 1992, a critically acclaimed, behind-the-scenes look at the Clinton-Bush election.

He is also a frequent guest on several public affairs television shows, including Washington Week in Review, Larry King Live, The Charlie Rose Show, and Inside Politics.

For more information on The Humanities Project, visit its Web site at http://www.rochester.edu/College/humanities/projects.