Experts in the News | Miller Center

At start of Year Two, government shutdown poses test to Trump’s leadership

"The political stakes as to who gets helped and who gets hurt are so uncertain," said Chris Lu, a former Obama administration official who is now a senior fellow at the University of Virginia's Miller Center. And in today's fast-paced and volatile political environment, any "advantage or disadvantage could be mitigated next week by another news event."

Chris Lu

American politics came of age with Monica Lewinsky

This month marks the 20th anniversary of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, an affair that resulted in Bill Clinton's impeachment. As tumultuous as the Clinton years were, in retrospect they seem a bit quaint: a time when bipartisan deals could still be struck, when the nation was still trying to find a language to talk about sexual harassment, when the internet was still a delightful novelty.

Nicole Hemmer

Trump's core supporters in Pennsylvania cheer 'unprecedented' president as he begins year two

Chaotic? Yes. But that should serve as little surprise to anyone who watched him campaign, said Barbara Perry, director of Presidential Studies at the University of Virginia's Miller Center.

Barbara Perry

The surest thing in Washington about Trump Year One: exhaustion

“He ran on a platform of chaos, and so in that sense he’s been very successful,” said Barbara Perry, who has studied presidents’ first years at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center.

Barbara Perry

Donald Trump’s first year was a whirlwind. But was it a failure?

Whirlwinds are seldom conducive to clear thinking. Dorothy, for example, encountered a vivid assortment of flamboyantly-dressed little people, irritable trees and flying monkeys along the Yellow Brick Road, all of which seemed to her (and to us, at the time) fantastically real. Then she awoke from that nasty bump to the head. For those of us who study American public life — especially those who specialize in the presidency — it’s been hard to know over the past year whether the political whirlwinds have been having a similar effect on our perceptions of reality.

Russell Riley

Whose Fault Is the Shutdown?

Moments like this explain why public approval ratings of Congress continue to be nearly as bad as those of used car salesmen. While there is plenty of blame to go around on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, it’s pretty clear to most voters that it is the job of Congress to fund the government.

Mary Kate Cary