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

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

poster

Play Video

First Year Project Introduction

Watch this overview of the First Year Project

gears

Governance

Run the government before it runs over you

Elaine C. Kamarck

Brookings Institution

U.S. Capitol

The Presidency

The promise and peril of the first year

The different ways in which presidents enter the White House often shape their first-year prospects and agendas.

H. W. Brands

University of Texas at Austin

Air force one

Governance

Crucible: the first 365 days

Every modern president has dwelled in the shadow of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s extraordinary beginning amid the worst economic crisis in the nation’s history.

Sidney Milkis

Miller Center

Victory Celebration

Governance

Dear Mr. President

Congratulations on your impressive electoral victory. Now you are entering territory that can’t be charted.

Peter Wehner

The Presidency

The next president's make-or-break first year

The Miller Center’s William Antholis examines presidential candidates’ “first day” promises. Will any hold up?

Bill Antholis

Miller Center

The First Year

WATCH: Why the first year matters

A president’s first year in office is crucial, a time of dangerous peril and exceptional opportunity.