UVA’s Miller Center notes that William Henry Harrison’s speech was prophetic, warning the country of the deepening political division in America. The speech even mentioning the term “civil war,” which would erupt only two decades later. In that reference, he warned that if one group of people attempted to wrestle control of the government from the rest, the natural order would bring about civil war and the destruction of the Union.
The scaled-down Inauguration Day events represent a loss of what some scholars call “a civil religion” that binds people together, says Barbara Perry, director of presidential studies at UVA’s Miller Center. “When we don’t have the serious parts of our [civil religion], the celebratory parts of that, it’s like losing one’s religion and ceremonies all at the same time,” she says.
UVA Center for Politics Director Larry Sabato is calling the inauguration of Joe Biden a ‘return to normalcy.’ However, Sabato says a great deal of what Donald Trump did will have to be reversed to truly reset the path.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are taking office during a very divisive time in the United States, and a political analyst says it’s going to be a long few days for the pair. “The first year is going to be a balancing act between getting new initiatives and reversing Trump’s initiatives,” said Dr. Larry Sabato, director of UVA’s Center for Politics. Sabato’s main advice to President Biden: Win over a small percentage of conservative-leaning independents, but also some older GOP lawmakers.
Jennifer Lawless, a UVA politics professor, said Jill Biden will “knock down a glass ceiling” for first ladies and, along with Kamala Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff, who is leaving his job to become America’s first ever second gentleman, represents an evolution of U.S. politics.
(Video) After four tumultuous years under President Trump, America will have a new commander in chief. Trump will not be attending the Inauguration ceremony for incoming President Joe Biden. Larry Sabato, director of UVA’s Center for Politics, discusses this and more.
(Video) Larry Sabato of the UVA Center for Politics weighs in on Donald Trump’s possible next moves after leaving the White House.
(Video) Larry Sabato, UVA Center for Politics director, joins CNBC’s coverage of the President Joe Biden’s inauguration ceremony to discuss what President Biden will have to address when he first takes office.
You can thank a once-in-a-century pandemic, security fears triggered by the worst raid on the U.S. Capitol since 1814 and a boycott by now-former President Donald Trump for the major differences at Wednesday’s inauguration. “It was sort of one of the visual reminders of how this inauguration was a little different,” said J. Miles Coleman of UVA’s Center for Politics.
Biden used the word 11 times throughout his address. “What was fascinating to me about it was that he started and ended with democracy,” said Bill Antholis, the director and CEO of the Miller Center, a nonpartisan affiliate of UVA that specializes in presidential scholarship. He attributed the theme of Biden’s speech to the Capitol riot and the events that preceded it. “I think this was a very different speech than the one that would have been written if Trump had conceded on the morning of Nov. 4,” he said.
The switch in tone between President Trump and President Biden is undeniable. “Biden said he is the president for all Americans – that’s not talk we heard in the last four years,” J. Miles Coleman, a political analyst with UVA’s Center for Politics, said.
(Audio) President Joe Biden signs 17 executive orders in his first hours in office. We dig into what they say, where Biden might succeed and what policies will meet resistance. Among the guests is Barbara Perry, director of presidential studies at UVA’s Miller Center.
(Video) Barbara Perry, the Gerald L. Baliles professor and director of presidential studies at UVA’s Miller Center, discusses the spiritual tone in President Biden’s inaugural address.
Micah Mazurek and Gerrit Van Schalkwyk, professors at the University of Virginia and University of Utah, respectively, described two separate studies they conducted that confirmed the positive influence of social media in neurodiverse teenagers’ and adults’ lives.
“Our usual picture of a spiral galaxy is as a flat disk, thinner than a pancake, peacefully rotating around its center,” lead author Xinlun Cheng, a UVA astronomy graduate student, said. “But the reality is more complicated.”
Two UVA scientists have been named to the National Academy of Inventors. Dr. Boris Kovatchev and Dr. Robin Felder were inducted into the National Academy of Inventors for their work in health devices and testing that can save countless lives.
A group of UVA researchers are offering resources to help teachers address issues of racial injustice in the classroom. The initiative called “Educating for Democracy” uses the way U.S. history is taught to properly explain current events.
The University of Virginia’s Facilities Management’s historic masons, specializing in historic preservation, have been working on repointing University Chapel.
In 1826, months after Thomas Jefferson died, the Rotunda at the University of Virginia was completed. A memorial just east of the Rotunda was dedicated 194 years later in remembrance of the enslaved laborers who built it. On Tuesday, five names were added.
UVA says it is committed to offering in-person learning while taking precautions. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the University is going ahead with having in-person classes during the spring semester.