Experts in the News | Miller Center

American Interests in the Eastern Mediterranean

The Eastern Mediterranean’s strategic location at the nexus of Africa, Asia, and Europe has made the region an epicenter of great power competition for over two millennia. It is no coincidence that U.S. pushback against Soviet expansionism began here in 1947 with the Greek-Turkish aid package as part of the Truman Doctrine.1 Although the region remained a focal point of U.S. grand strategy during the Cold War, its importance waned as the U.S.-Soviet conflict ended and as Washington turned its attention farther east following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Eric Edelman

Biden’s Congress Whisperer

The OLA dates back to 1953, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the general who had commanded the D-Day assault, recoiled at Washington’s inefficiency and its lack of clear chains of communication. He appointed a former military assistant to act as a liaison between the White House and Congress. At first the job was largely logistical, often focused on setting up meetings between the president and legislators. Since then it has evolved into a crucial cog in the Beltway machine, a full office of what historian Russell L. Riley calls the “president’s chief lobbyists.”

Russell Riley

Listen in on Lyndon B. Johnson in ‘Podcast of the Year,’ Hosted by UVA’s Melody Barnes

Although Melody Barnes was thrilled to host a podcast about President Lyndon B. Johnson – recently named among the “Best Podcasts of 2020” by the New Yorker – LBJ in many ways chose her, Barnes said. Producers at PRX, the podcast arm of Public Radio International, had just wrapped up a successful podcast on the war in Vietnam, “LBJ’s War,” and they were looking for someone to host their next podcast, “LBJ and the Great Society,” about Johnson’s extensive domestic policy program, which included landmark legislation like Medicare, Medicaid, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Melody Barnes

Electoral College Vote: Delegates Cast votes For Presidential Candidates Today

Barbara Perry is interviewed on Spectrum TV about the Electoral College.

Barbara Perry

Making Sense of the Electoral College

This week marked the so-called safe harbor deadline when states have certified their results for the U.S. presidential election. Typically, by the safe harbor deadline, election-related challenges at the state level are wrapped up. But, President Trump is continuing to claim - without proof - that the results in many of the states that voted for Joe Biden are fraudulent and should be tossed out. So, how can the election be both certified - and contested? Helping us to make sense of it all is our friend Barbara Perry, the Presidential Studies Director at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. She begins by explaining who the electors are and what the Electoral College actually does.

Barbara Perry

Biden Names Two Obama White House Veterans to New Roles

Melody Barnes, who led the Domestic Policy Council under Mr. Obama, said Ms. Rice had the essential bureaucratic know-how required to run the body effectively and noted that she would be supported by a formidable staff of experts. “She’s an intellectual powerhouse,” Ms. Barnes said. “She has extensive government experience and knows how to manage a process, and work with departments and agencies, which is an essential part of the director’s job.”

Melody Barnes