Dr. Kathryn Cramer Brownell is an author and assistant professor of history at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN where she teaches courses in 20th century American history. She received her B.A. from University of Michigan and her Ph.D. from Boston University. Her research and teaching focus on American political history, the American presidency, and intersections of media, politics and popular culture in modern America. Her most recent book, Showbiz Politics: Hollywood in American Political Life, examines the institutionalization of entertainment in American politics.