Exactly eleven weeks after the inauguration of President Trump, Intellectual Vitality and the Institute of Politics’ Conservative Coalition partnered to bring Robert Doar – president of famed conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute – to Harvard for a conversation about the state of civil discourse in the country. Doar was joined by the Learned Hand Professor of Law Jack Goldsmith, former Assistant Attorney General and author of After Trump: Reconstructing the Presidency. Through a series of questions posed by Ari Kohn ‘26 and Evan Doerr ‘28, Doar and Goldsmith discussed the trajectory of the Trump presidency and of modern conservatism as a whole.

The two began their conversation by qualifying the difference between conservatism – which they defined as fiscal responsibility and limited government – and populism – the ideology associated with the “common man” and current MAGA policies. Legally, these two movements take opposing stances on the Constitution: whereas conservatives read the Constitution through an originalist lens, populists have sought to adapt the Constitution by adopting new legal theories to test its boundaries. Perhaps the most prominent examples of one such theory is the Unitary Executive Theory, which posits that the president themself is the executive branch and thus has the authority to hire, fire, and reorganize their officials as they see fit.

They concluded the discussion with a historical reminder of the role norms have played in checking the power of men and institutions. These norms are not legally enforced or societally mandated; rather, they serve as best practices for the efficient operation of intellectual and governmental bodies. In regards to the president, Doar and Goldsmith highlighted norms such as respecting special prosecutors or exercising restraint with pardons, to name a few. Likewise, intellectual vitality serves as a norm for education. As higher education’s relationship with the United States government continues to evolve, we must remind ourselves of these norms and why they remain so important.