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Barbara Perry

Transition Tradition: Presidential History Lessons
Following the November U.S. elections, Barbara A. Perry comments on the tradition of presidential transitions. Perry (@BarbaraPerryUVA) is the Gerald L. Baliles Professor and Director of Presidential Studies at the University of Virginia‘s Miller Center. We welcome your comments on this post below.   Transition Tradition: Presidential History Lessons In the classic Broadway play and […]
RBG: Jimmy Carter’s “Notorious” Judicial Legacy
Ruth Bader Ginsburg might not have ascended to the Supreme Court if President Carter had not developed a deliberate affirmative action strategy. Barbara Perry explains the significance of Carter’s appointment of Ginsburg to the DC Circuit bench. Perry (@BarbaraPerryUVA) is the Gerald L. Baliles Professor and Director of Presidential Studies at the University of Virginia‘s […]
Categories: History, Business and Law
A New Biography of John F. Kennedy Might Calm Your Election Jitters
“JFK himself will remain firmly embedded in history as long as worthy biographies about him continue to appear in each new age,” says Barbara A. Perry about Fredrik Logevall’s new work: JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917-1956. Perry (@BarbaraPerryUVA) is the Gerald L. Baliles Professor and Director of Presidential Studies at the […]
Categories: History
Books for the Holidays and New Year
Holiday downtime and New Year’s resolutions open the door to reading new titles. Barbara Perry offers book suggestions on influential U.S. political figures on both sides of the aisle, highlighting George H.W. and Barbara Bush. Ms. Perry is the Gerald L. Baliles Professor and Director of Presidential Studies at the Miller Center at the University […]
Creating Presidential Libraries: Lessons from History
Written by Barbara Perry, Gerald L. Baliles Professor and Director of Presidential Studies, and Sheila M. Blackford, Librarian and Managing Editor of American President, UVA’s Miller Center. Follow them on Twitter @BarbaraPerryUVA and @Sheila_bl. All presidents since Herbert Hoover have established libraries to house their presidential archives and museums. Barack Obama’s will be situated on […]
Stay Tuned for “The Kennedys”
Written by Barbara Perry, Gerald L. Baliles Professor and Director of Presidential Studies, UVA’s Miller Center. She is the author of Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier and Rose Kennedy: The Life and Times of a Political Matriarch. Follow her on Twitter @BarbaraPerryUVA. In the very same week of the Academy Awards, I […]
Categories: History
Tales from the Crypt: Searching for Answers in the New JFK Assassination Files
Written by Barbara A. Perry, White Burkett Miller Center Professor of Ethics and Institutions and Presidential Studies Director at UVA’s Miller Center. Follow her on Twitter @BarbaraPerryUVA   As I moved through the grocery check-out line this past weekend, my eye fixed on a tabloid headline, “JFK Assassin Worked for the CIA!”  Lee Harvey Oswald […]
Categories: History
Between the Right and a Hard Place: How JFK Pivoted to Righteousness
Written by Barbara Perry, White Burkett Miller Center Professor of Ethics and Institutions and Presidential Studies Director at UVA’s Miller Center. Follow her on Twitter @BarbaraPerryUVA.   We don’t typically think of John F. Kennedy and Donald J. Trump as leading comparable presidencies. Yet they both faced a right-wing faction of their party over the […]
Trump and Kennedy at 100
Written by Barbara A. Perry, Miller Center Professor of Ethics and Institutions and the Presidential Studies Director at UVA’s Miller Center. She is the author of Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier and Rose Kennedy: The Life and Times of a Political Matriarch. You can follow her on Twitter @BarbaraPerryUVA.     By […]
Categories: History
Jackie Kennedy: Welcome to the White House
  Written by: Barbara A. Perry, White Burkett Miller Professor of Ethics and Institutions; Director, Presidential Studies; Co-Chair, Presidential Oral History Program, Miller Center Valentine’s Day 1962 established First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy as a modern TV star when she hosted A Tour of the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy, which was broadcast on […]
Categories: History
Finding Nino’s Replacement: Lessons from POTUS/SCOTUS History
Written by: Barbara A. Perry, Miller Professor of Ethics and Institutions, Director of Presidential Studies at UVA’s Miller Center and former Supreme Court Fellow.   A shorter version of this blog entitled “One-third of all U.S. presidents appointed a Supreme Court justice in an election year” appeared in The Monkey Cage at the Washington Post […]
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