As part of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation Residency Program, which aims to connect a liberal arts education with the world at-large, Wittenberg welcomed journalists Tom Brazaitis and Eleanor Clift to campus, Feb. 3-7, for a week that included a public lecture, classes and informal discussions with students and faculty.

The senior Washington editor and former Washington Bureau Chief for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Brazaitis has covered the nation’s capital for the past two decades. He writes a Sunday column for the op-ed page, which is often distributed nationally over the Newhouse News Service wire. He and Clift have also co-authored Madame President: Shattering the Glass Ceiling and War Without Bloodshed: The Art of Politics.

Considered one of the most accurate predictors among pundits on political talk shows, Clift, who has played herself in several films including Independence Day and Dave, is a contributing editor at Newsweek, works on Capitol Hill and reports on White House and presidential politics as well as a variety of national issues, including the war on terrorism. She also followed the Clinton campaign in 1992.

As Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows, Brazaitis and Clift shared their experiences in journalism and as authors in their meetings with students, faculty and staff during the week. The couple also presented a Wittenberg Series-sponsored lecture, Feb. 3, in Weaver Chapel, during which the husband-wife team asked “Is America Ready for War.”

“There is no evidence that Iraq is connected with the events of Sept. 11, 2001,” Brazaitis said, but everyone agrees that “Saddam Hussein is a twisted dictator.” He also questioned if anyone really knows what Iraq is like without Saddam Hussein. Saddam has been a problem before so why go to war now? Brazaitis asked.

“I think President Bush has not been candid about the risks of this war,” Clift added. “What the president will not talk about,” she said, “is that if we are successful, there will be a long occupation of Iraq.”