UVA Miller Center releases oral histories from Obama administration

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - The Miller Center at the University of Virginia released a new collection of oral histories from Barack Obama’s term as president.

Researchers at the University of Virginia spent years interviewing secretaries of state, joint chiefs chairs and top White House advisors who served under President Obama. The stories are now available for anyone to read.

“It’s hard to find nuggets that we didn’t already know,” said Barbara Perry, a presidential studies professor and co-chair of the project. “But what these do is give us an opportunity to speak to the people at the highest levels of power, in this case in the two-term Obama presidency, at time of crisis.”

The UVA Miller Center released 37 new oral history interviews from the Obama administration, capturing what it was like to serve during defining moments.

“We know that practitioners of government and people who serve in government come back and look at these interviews to get tips on advice on how to react in a crisis,” Perry said.

Perry said timing is everything.

“We try to get people from the senior ranks of the presidency shortly after they leave office and the president leaves office where these memories are still crisp and clear in their minds and get them to tell us their memories when they are still fresh,” she said.

Perry said Obama’s team came into office facing a worsening financial crisis that threatened to freeze the entire U.S. financial system. That created stress for many of those on his team.

“You have to have people who are experienced, but nothing can prepare people unless they have served in other presidencies in other troubled times,” Perry said.

The oral histories include new details about the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

Admiral Mike Mullen, who was chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the bin Laden raid, told the Miller Center about how he prayed during that time.

“He had what is called a rosary ring, which is a smaller version of a Catholic rosary. And he said during the entire time of that raid, he was praying that rosary,” Perry said. “And then he discovered afterwards that so was then-Vice President Biden. And they discovered that the CIA director Leon Panetta had been praying his rosary.”

Perry said President Obama also revealed he had kept a crucifix in his pocket during the raid.

What stands out to the Miller Center from other analysis was that administration’s leadership under pressure.

“We had a younger and somewhat less experienced president, but one who was a natural leader who remained cool, calm, and collected, and had a capacious mind,” Perry said.

The project now ranks among the Miller Center’s most extensive, with nearly 200 hours of interviews.

“We believe this helps people who are going to serve in the next half century understand the roles that they’ll have to fulfill,” Perry said.

Perry said the Miller Center views oral history as the second draft of history.

“We try to get people from the senior ranks of the presidency shortly after they leave office and the president leaves office where these memories are still crisp and clear in their minds,” she said. “The next draft of history will be the documents that come out from presidents. And yet those take decades to process.”

The transcripts are available now on the Miller Center’s website, along with oral histories going back to the Ford administration.

The link to the articles can be found here.

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