Experts in the News | Miller Center

Divide and Conquer the Election

Most presidents, even after a bitter campaign, at least go through the motions of presenting themselves as the president of all Americans – including those who voted against them, historians say. In both of Abraham Lincoln's inaugural addresses – happening just before the Civil War and during it – he called for unity, notes Barbara Perry, a presidential scholar at the Miller Center at the University of Virginia. Lincoln eventually gave up his life in quest of national unity.

Barbara Perry

Trump heads to West Point amid fresh military tensions

“I just think it was such a violation for those who were in the military … that I wouldn’t doubt he’s taken a hit in the military. I think you’ll get a sense of that [Saturday],” said Barbara Perry, a presidential scholar at the Miller Center at the University of Virginia.

Barbara Perry

Chris Lu: Addressing underlying inequalities will ‘require sustained, focused attention’

Former Deputy Secretary of Labor in the Obama administration, Chris Lu, joins Andrea Mitchell to discuss the disparate economic impact of the coronavirus, unemployment numbers and underlying inequality issues affecting communities of color amid the economic downturn.

Chris Lu

Biden Camp Tries to Walk Fine Line on China

“There is a legitimate and powerful way to attack Trump on China without attacking Chinese Americans or Asian Americans,” said Chris Lu, who served as an advisor to President Barack Obama. Lu, who is not an official member of the Biden campaign, spoke to Foreign Policy at the request of campaign officials. “If you ask people in the Asian American and Chinese American community, the greater concern is Trump talking about the ‘Chinese virus’ and the troubling increase in racially motivated attacks,” Lu added.

Chris Lu

Analysis: As US Reckons Over Race, Trump Becomes a Bystander

What you have seen since Donald Trump has become president is a complete rejection of that norm and that remains true up until today,” said Russell Riley, professor and co-chair of the Presidential Oral History Program at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center.

Russell Riley

The protests could change who Biden picks as VP. Will he choose a black woman?

Biden might not need to worry so much about winning white, working-class voters in the Midwest: As a white man from a working class background, he already connects with that demographic, said Jennifer Lawless, a professor of women and politics at the University of Virginia. Those voters also may not be as taken with Trump as they were in 2016, she said. Many voted for him for economic reasons — and now, because of coronavirus, a large group of them are unemployed.

Jennifer Lawless