According to Professor Russell Riley, Co-Chair of the Miller Center’s Presidential Oral History Program at the University of Virginia, presidents have generally reserved executive power to shape the broad parameters of policy rather than insisting on specifics or ‘getting down into the weeds.’ Even less so when it comes to history. ‘I think it’s safe to say that presidents have not routinely made historical subject matter a topic of their activity,’ Riley says. ‘The most precious asset in Washington is the president’s time, and there typically are too many other demands on it to waste it on esoteric matters of history.’
Russell Riley
