Experts in the News | Miller Center

How Jackie Kennedy Transformed the White House

“But by 1960, when John F. Kennedy is elected, that number was 80 percent of households,” says Barbara A. Perry, director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia's Miller Center and author of several books on the Kennedy presidency. “Most people who had televisions only got two channels, NBC and CBS, so if you were going to be watching TV on February 14, 1962, chances are you would be watching Mrs. Kennedy."

Barbara Perry

How Trump's tariff feud with Canada spiraled in 48 hours over an ad featuring Ronald Reagan

What began as a Canadian ad campaign quickly turned into a full-blown trade dispute between the United States and Canada. In just 48 hours, a TV commercial — featuring the late President Ronald Reagan's warning about the dangers of tariffs — led President Donald Trump to accuse Canada of "fraud" and impose fresh levies.

Russell Riley

Paranoia and Purges Are Consuming the Pentagon

Eric and Eliot discuss appeasement and the striking similarities between Putin’s recent demands and Hitler’s insistence that the Czechs surrender the heavily fortified Sudetenland. They then turn to the latest idiocy coming from the administration, including Trump’s demolition of the East Wing, the Pentagon’s new exclusively right-wing press corps, and the live-fire Marine exercise that sent ordnance onto I-5 in California during a salute to Pete Hegseth and JD Vance. They also examine Putin’s phone call with Trump and the situation in Ukraine, along with Trump’s accelerating campaign of regime change in Venezuela. They end the week’s conversation with thoughts on the No Kings protests and the daunting prospects for a sustained ceasefire in Gaza.

Eric Edelman

Trump and the future of American health care

The second Trump administration has brought transformative changes to the U.S. health care system and to medical research and funding. From cuts to Medicaid and Affordable Care Act subsidies to cancellation of research grants and departures of scientific leaders, policy shifts have remade the landscape for health care and research. At the same time, many underlying challenges remain unaddressed. Miller Center and UVA health care experts discuss what has happened, what it means, and where U.S. health care might be headed next.

Guian McKee, Vivian Riefberg, Jonathan R. Crowe, and Margaret Foster Riley

Government shutdown threatens health insurance subsidies for millions, UVA Miller Center says

“The shutdown has occurred over basically one issue,” said Vivian Riefberg, a professor at UVA’s Miller and Darden schools.

Vivian Riefberg, Jonathan R. Crowe, and Margaret Foster Riley

Before Renovating White House, Truman Got Buy-In From Congress and Experts

“The reason that these renovations went forward is because they were absolutely necessary for the place to be livable,” Marc Selverstone, the director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, said of Mr. Truman’s renovations. “And that seems to be quite a different rationale than the one that is being provided now.”

Marc Selverstone