UVa's Miller Center to gather oral history of Obama presidency
The University of Virginia’s Miller Center of Public Affairs publicly announced an oral history of the Barack Obama presidency on Tuesday.
One of the center’s core projects is documenting presidencies through confidential interviews of White House officials, starting with the Gerald Ford administration. Interviews, which often range over several days, produce archives relied upon by journalists, scholars and students.
According to the center, the first round of interviews has focused on the Obama administration’s 2008–09 transition to office, its response to the 2008 financial crisis and efforts to address climate change. Additional interviews are being scheduled with policymakers and other officials on those topics, as well as with those who participated in the passage of the Affordable Care Act, diplomacy and national security issues (especially in Europe, the Middle East and Asia), and the historic nature of the Obama presidency. Interview material is typically kept confidential for a period of time.
The center is creating an advisory council of scholars and Obama administration alumni to help guide the project. According to a news release, the Miller Center plans to partner with a range of universities, think tanks, educational institutions and researchers working on complementary efforts.
Read more: https://www.dailyprogress.com/news/uva/uva-s-miller-center-to-gather-oral-history-of-obama/article_4e020b22-769e-11e9-9a70-632a5f90ce9c.html
(Charlottesville Daily Progress)