NOTED HISTORIANS ADDRESS STATE CONFERENCE HELD HERE

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Three noted historians were in Cape Girardeau Friday and Saturday to participate in the 33rd annual Missouri Conference on History, held here for the first time since 1980.

"Politics and Personality: Future of Democracy," was held at the Holiday Inn, with about 100 history professors and high school social studies teachers in attendance.

Speakers analyzed and assessed current political leadership, including the Bush administration, as well as historical leadership such as the reign of Adolph Hitler.

The keynote speaker was Dr. James Barber, professor of political science at Duke University in North Carolina.

Barber, an authority on the presidency, delivered Friday evening's banquet address, "The Perversion of Politics: Historical and Current Case Studies Depicting the Movement from Rationalism to Emotionalism."

J. Christopher Schnell, president of the conference and a professor of history at Southeast Missouri State University, said Barber's presentation addressed the future of democracy internationally.

"Democracy is on the upswing world-wide, but ironically, while it's on the upswing in Eastern European countries, it seems to be on the decline in the U.S.," Schnell said. "(Barber) carried a message of democracy for us as professional historians and the general public of Southeast Missouri ... to try to keep the idea of democracy alive."

Barber is the author of several books on the presidency, including "Race for the Presidency: The Media and the Nominating Process" and "Politics by Humans: Research on American Leadership."

Dr. Paul S. Boyer, professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, spoke on religion and politics at Friday's noon luncheon. Author of "The Enduring Vision," Boyer also has written about book censorship in the United States and the Atomic Age.

Schnell called Boyer's presentation a "very fascinating intellectual analysis of the effects of fundamentalism on American politics."

Dr. Robert Waite of the Center for Humanities and Social Sciences at Williams College in Massachusetts is an expert on dictatorships and the totalitarian mind.

Waite presented "Personality and Politics: A Comparison of the Kaiser and the Fuhrer," where he compared the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II with that of Adolf Hitler.

Waite's use of psychoanalysis in his study of historical world leaders has been a subject of controversy among professional historians since his 1977 book, "The Psychopathic God: Adolf Hitler."

Schnell said the annual conference helps promote interest in history. He said the focus of the conference gradually is changing to try to include more of the general public.

"We want to make it more of a public conference," he said. "A lot of people really like history, but feel uncomfortable in the presence of professional historians. We're trying to change that."

The conference was sponsored by Southeast Missouri State University and the Missouri Geographical Alliance. The various sessions were sponsored by the Missouri Bar Association on the Bill of Rights.