Bill Clinton Concludes PrezFest

PrezFest is now over in Charlottesville. The three-day event focused on many topics related to the presidency, including race relations, foreign policy, and even social media and comedy. On its last day, as WMRA's Marguerite Gallorini reports, one of the panels focused on women in leadership and the glass ceiling. The festival then concluded with remarks by former president Bill Clinton.

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The United States still has not had a woman in the White House. The glass ceiling persists, but it is not unbreakable, and things are slowly changing. Here’s Jennifer Lawless, Commonwealth Professor of Politics at UVA, on the current presidential race.

(L to r) Barbara Perry, Gerald L. Baliles Professor at the Miller Center (moderator); Margaret Brennan, host of CBS News' Face the Nation; Anita McBride, former chief of staff under Laura Bush; and Jennifer Lawless, Commonwealth Professor of Politics UVA.

JENNIFER LAWLESS: What I do find heartening about this though is that the women who have decided to run are not all the Hillary Clintons of the world. They don't all have every single political background and experience and credential. Which suggests that women are getting to the point where they're throwing their hats into the ring because they think they're as qualified as similar men who also have not done every single thing out there. And I think that sends a really important message moving forward.

Former president Bill Clinton provided the final remarks 

to mark the end of this three-day Presidential Ideas Festival, 

in which he addressed issues such as the trade war, diversity,
immigration, and the need to continue striving for
"a more perfect union."

The Presidential Ideas Festival then concluded with remarks from former president Bill Clinton, who talked about the importance of diversity.

BILL CLINTON: Diverse groups committed to the rule of law and believing in growing 'We the People,' will make better decisions over any relevant amount of time than homogenous groups or even lone geniuses. We need the president to speak for a bigger 'We the People,' not a smaller one.

This story appeared on WMRA News.

Presidential Ideas Festival Tackles Race on Day 2

(L to r) Moderator and White Burkett Miller Professor of Politics Sidney Milkis; Rabbi and former U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom David Saperstein; UVA Department of Politics faculty, and Department of Religious Studies faculty fellow Larycia Hawkins; American University professor Ibram Kendi;
and Morgan State University professor Jason Johnson. / Picture: Marguerite Gallorini

The Presidential Ideas Festival continues in Charlottesville. On Wednesday [May 22nd], scholars from UVA and elsewhere formed a panel to talk about a pressing issue of our time: race in America and in U.S. politics. WMRA's Marguerite Gallorini reports.

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With events such as August 12, 2017 in Charlottesville and the conversation around racism and racial inequality raging nationally, the Presidential Ideas Festival had to address the issue of race in America. Here's Larycia Hawkins, who holds joint appointments in Politics and Religious Studies at UVA, talking about the focus on the Obama presidency.

LARYCIA HAWKINS: As a political scientist, I find it odd that I'm never asked, previously, about race relations during Bush's administration; or during Clinton's administration. Race and the presidency always collide, and coalesce. And so I think it's important to shift our questioning: how did Nixon's benign neglect affect race relations in the U.S., right?

The panel also discussed reparations for slavery. Here’s rabbi and former U.S. ambassador-at-large for religious freedom David Saperstein:

DAVID SAPERSTEIN: If you count the two million veterans at the end of World War II and their families, it is the same proportion of America that African Americans are today. And the GI bill and the FHA loan programs lifted to the middle class almost that entire segment of the country. It really can be done, if we have the moral vision and the political will to do it.

This story appeared on WMRA News.

Presidential Ideas Festival Kicks Off in Charlottesville

(L to r) CBS correspondent John Dickerson; former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright; and former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley talk about foreign policy on the first day of the Presidential Ideas Festival in Charlottesville. /
Picture: Marguerite Gallorini

The Presidential Ideas Festival kicked off Tuesday [May 21st] in Charlottesville. Organized by the Miller Center and taking place on University of Virginia grounds, the three-day event aims to examine some of the most pressing challenges facing democracy around the world through the lens of the American presidency. WMRA will give you an overview of each day of this event – which will culminate on Thursday afternoon with a closing keynote from President Bill Clinton. Here’s Marguerite Gallorini reporting on the first day.

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The Presidential Ideas Festival is receiving big local and national figures in Charlottesville. And its first keynote conversation was moderated by CBS correspondent John Dickerson – who is also a UVA graduate. The theme of the discussion was national security and foreign policy, which naturally led to talks of U.S.-China relations. Here’s former national security advisor Stephen Hadley on the issue:

STEPHEN HADLEY: It is true we are going to compete with China. The question is: can we also be strategic cooperators? And we need to be because all those global issues – of terrorism, of environment, of climate change, of water resources – can't be solved by either China or the United States alone.

As for the presidency itself, former secretary of state Madeleine Albright offered insight into the various forces pulling a presidency – forces that can sometimes be at odds.

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT: Foreign policy is not the only thing that a president does. For the most part, domestic policy issues dominate. The only problem is I can guarantee you that the Secretary of State and the National Security Advisor never get along except when Henry Kissinger had the same job.

[Laughs from audience]

HADLEY: It's exactly right!

This story appeared on WMRA News.