Experts

Fast Facts

  • Emeritus professor, Washington and Lee University
  • Fulbright Scholar, University College Dublin (2013-14)
  • Former associate provost, Washington and Lee University
  • Expertise on the presidency, U.S. foreign policy, Jimmy Carter

Areas Of Expertise

  • Foreign Affairs
  • American Defense and Security
  • Governance
  • Elections
  • Political Parties and Movements
  • Politics
  • The Presidency

Robert (Bob) Strong is emeritus professor at Washington and Lee University and was a Fulbright Scholar at University College Dublin for the 2013-14 academic year. In 2005, he was a visiting scholar at the Rothermere American Institute at Oxford University.

Strong earned his PhD at the University of Virginia and before W&L taught at Tulane University and the University College of Wales. 

Strong's research involves national security issues and presidential foreign policy decisions in the modern era. His book publications include Character and Consequence: Foreign Policy Decisions of George H. W. BushWorking in the World: Jimmy Carter and the Making of American Foreign Policy and Decisions and Dilemmas: Case Studies in Presidential Foreign Policy Making Since 1945.   

From 2008 to 2013, Strong served in senior administrative positions at Washington and Lee, first as associate provost and then as interim provost. He has published essays in a variety of journals and national newspapers.  His recent speeches and op-eds can be found here.

 

Robert Strong News Feed

“There are people who enter politics late in life, like Dwight Eisenhower or Donald Trump or Ronald Reagan, but they were famous in their earlier endeavors,” Strong says. In contrast, Carter was the kind of unknown, “dark horse” candidate who Strong says “almost never gets to the White House”—except he did.
Robert Strong HISTORY
Jimmy Carter leaves a legacy of humility, honesty and standing up for justice.
Robert Strong Richmond Times-Dispatch
"Carter believed in holding America's allies as accountable as its adversaries for human rights abuses," wrote Professor Robert A Strong of Washington and Lee University.
Barbara Perry ABC News
“Carter’s the outsider with little Washington experience. Biden’s the opposite of that. But they both were moderates within the party with some national appeal and able to frame their campaigns by the critique of their predecessors,” said Robert Strong, professor of politics at Washington and Lee University.
Barbara Perry The Washington Post
“Jimmy Carter is much more highly regarded today than when he lost his bid for reelection in 1980. He has produced an exemplary post-presidency, and today there is an increased appreciation for the enormity of the task he took on in 1977. Carter took office just thirty months after a President had left the entire federal government in a shambles. He faced epic challenges—the energy crisis, Soviet aggression, Iran, and above all, a deep mistrust of leadership by his citizens. He was hard working and conscientious.”
Robert Strong Barron's
“Jimmy Carter is much more highly regarded today than when he lost his bid for reelection in 1980. He has produced an exemplary post-presidency, and today there is an increased appreciation for the enormity of the task he took on in 1977. Carter took office just thirty months after a President had left the entire federal government in a shambles. He faced epic challenges—the energy crisis, Soviet aggression, Iran, and above all, a deep mistrust of leadership by his citizens. He was hard working and conscientious.”
Robert Strong La Voce di New York