Experts in the News | Miller Center

Discussion of Bush 41, Trump and China trade talks

Senior Fellow Chris Lu is interviewed on MSNBC about the death of President George H.W. Bush

Chris Lu

Former George H.W. Bush Speechwriter on Why the President Was Shy About Talking About His World War II Service in Public

The more I wrote for him, the more I learned his style. He didn’t like to talk about himself much. If we used the word “I” too much he’d circle it, to mean “too many.” He felt that in a democracy the President should use the word “We.” That’s probably why he was generally extremely reticent to talk about his World War II experience.

Mary Kate Cary

As a moderate Republican and internationalist, George H.W. Bush was last of a kind

"He should be given credit for how he performed in the presidency, that leadership role of internationalism, multilateralism, free trade, international law, international associations," said Barbara A. Perry, presidential studies director at the University of Virginia's Miller Center. "That was such a successful model for fighting the Cold War, ending the Cold War and going into the 1990s and the 2000s."

Barbara Perry

Michael Cohen plea signals 'blockbuster indictment,' says Watergate prosecutor

One of Donald Trump's longest-serving former aides, former White House legislative director Marc Short, downplayed the importance of Cohen's guilty plea. "What you have seen in the last 24 hours is that the president's opponents are trying to pitch it as a bigger deal and his defenders are saying the real estate deal went nowhere and so it is not really a conflict," Short told DW. "I think it's more of the same, honestly."

Marc Short

Bush’s Letter to Clinton Cemented a Presidential Tradition, Historians Say

Barbara A. Perry, the director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, said it makes sense that this presidential custom has only been consistent during the last three decades. For one, the Oval Office, which provides a symbolic repository for the transition letter, did not exist until the beginning of the 20th century.

Barbara Perry

For parts of his presidency, Bush had more support from Democrats

While former Republican President George H. W. Bush has been characterized for his ability to create bridges across party lines, some of those compromises cost him support from his own party. Barbara Perry, a historian and professor at the University of Virginia, who wrote a book about Bush's tenure, spoke to Hari Sreenivasan about some of the lasting effects he had on U.S. politics.

Barbara Perry