The Strategerist

Retired U.S. Army Captain Florent Groberg is one of 3,528 recipients of the Medal of Honor—the highest military honor awarded to those who serve in the United States armed forces. Flo joins host Andrew Kaufmann and Michael Bailey, Deputy Director of the Leadership Programs at the Bush Institute to discuss his service to our country and what leadership means both in the uniform and as a civilian.

Chuck Todd is an Emmy award-winning journalist while NBC’s Chief Political Analyst and former moderator for Meet the Press, which he stepped away from in September 2023. Although he stepped away from the moderator’s chair, he still covers politics this his podcast, The Chuck Toddcast. He joined Strategerist host Andrew Kaufmann and Senior Editorial Advisor at the Bush Institute Bill McKenzie to discuss how the journalism ecosystem has changed and evolved and how local news should be driving national news (not the other way around).

Jared Cohen is a modern renaissance man as a businessman and presidential historian. He’s written several books for adults and children, the latest being “Life After Power: Seven Presidents and Their Search for Purpose Beyond the White House.” Jared has served in the Bush and Obama Administrations on the Secretary of State policy planning staff; he was Google’s first Director of Ideas and Chief advisor to Google CEO Eric Schmidt; and he currently serves as the President of Global Affairs and co-head of the Goldman Sachs Global Institute at Goldman. He joins host Andrew Kaufmann and Kevin “Sully” Sullivan, former White House Communications Director under President Bush and Senior Advisor to the George W. Bush Presidential Center, to discuss his “portfolio of curiosities,” which ranges from presidential history to big tech and its effects on democracy.

The Honorable James D. Rodriguez served as Assistant Secretary within the Biden administration Department of Labor Veterans’ Employment and Training Service from January 2021 until January 2025 where he served 440,000 veterans annually. He is an accomplished executive leader with over 30 years experience across the government and corporate landscapes and over 20 years in the United States Marine Corps in numerous leadership and management positions. Last year, he joined Strategerist host Andrew Kaufmann and the Bush Institute’s Casey Rodriguez, the Senior Program Manager of Leadership Programs. But not only is Casey managing the operations of the Presidential Leadership Scholars program, she’s the daughter of Secretary Rodriguez.

Late last year, the Bush Center welcomed Natalia Arno, president of the Free Russia Foundation to discuss her role in the multilateral prisoner exchange of 26 people, how she was poisoned in 2023 (but never gave up on her advocacy), and the importance of spreading democracy. She joins host Andrew Kaufmann and Director of Global Policy at the Bush Institute Chris Walsh to talk about how the Free Russia Foundation has evolved from her own kitchen table to a worldwide organization — which has led August 1, 2024 prisoner exchange in Turkey — and has taken on the workings of the Kremlin head on.