Believer Author David Axelrod in Conversation with Museum CEO John Hollar

The strategist who masterminded Obama's historic election campaigns, and their breakthrough use of technology, opens up about his years as a young journalist, political consultant, and ultimately senior adviser to the president.

The man behind some of the greatest political changes of the last decade, David Axelrod has devoted a lifetime to questioning political certainties and daring to bring fresh thinking into the political landscape. Whether as a child hearing John F. Kennedy stump in New York, or as a strategist guiding the first African American to the White House, Axelrod shows in Believer how his own life stands at the center of a tumultuous American century.

Believer begins in 1960s New York, but rapidly moves west. As a young newspaperman in the Chicago of the 1970s and 1980s, Axelrod reported on the dissolution of the last of the big city political machines, along with the emergence of a black, independent movement that made Obama's ascent possible. Seeing the golden age of Chicago journalism collapse, Axelrod switched careers to become a political strategist, working for path breakers like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and morally conflicted characters like John Edwards. For better and worse, Axelrod helped to redefine the techniques by which modern political campaigns are run.

Our moderator, John Hollar, will explore with Axelrod all of the above plus the impact story of technology – from social media to Web 2.0 and big data and beyond – utilized by campaigns but also by the electorate, and what the implications may be on our politics and public policy.