The Presidency / The First Year

Gold plate on back of chair that says "the president"

Joe Biden at one year

Presidential experts evaluate the 46th president's first year in office

Watch the event
First Year 2017 logo

Donald Trump at one year

White House veterans and Miller Center scholars evaluate the 45th president's first 365 days

Watch the event

Featured Video

First Year Project Introduction

Watch this overview of the First Year Project

oil wells

Energy and the Environment

Energy inheritance

Given the challenge of passing comprehensive energy legislation—even with a Republican-controlled Congress—the executive branch has inherited a number of administrative decisions from the Obama Administration.
Kevin Book
ClearView Energy Partners LLC
Gas pump in front of flag

Energy and the Environment

Energy first

The Trump Administration still should do more than identify priorities. The administration, like any other, should develop a comprehensive energy strategy that identifies energy policy objectives and is clear about what problems it is trying to solve with government action.
Jason Bordoff
Columbia University
Spilling oil forming US map

Energy and the Environment

The urgency of energy

Given the extent to which the energy landscape has shifted over the past decade, our nation’s energy policies are ripe for review and updating. With no new comprehensive energy legislation having passed during the Obama administration, the start of President Trump's term might appear to offer a new opportunity to propose comprehensive energy legislation to address our changing world.
Ronald E. Minsk
Columbia University
Cracked earth

Energy and the Environment

Changeup on climate change

The president can address climate change in the first year in a way that reaches across the aisle, speaks to all Americans, and brings us together. Although it may appear unlikely, Trump has a great opportunity to rethink how Americans frame climate change.
Deborah Lawrence
University of Virginia
Illustration of DNA made of bubbles

Science and Technology

The bioethical approach

In his first year, President Donald Trump should develop a charter for, assign priorities to, and establish by executive order a new presidential commission on bioethics.
James F. Childress
University of Virginia