Trump: The First Two Years (Miller Center Studies on the Presidency)

On the first anniversary of Donald Trump’s presidency, Michael Nelson, one of our finest and most objective presidential scholars, published Trump’s First Year, a nonpartisan assessment that was widely hailed as the best account of one of the most unusual years in presidential history. At the midpoint of Trump’s term, Nelson has updated his book to include the second year, which if anything has proven to be even more remarkable.

Beginning with an examination of the dramatic 2016 election, Nelson’s book follows Trump as he takes office under mostly favorable conditions, with relative stability at home and abroad and his party in control of both houses of Congress. Trump leveraged this successfully in some ways, from the confirmation of his nominee Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court to the passage of his tax-reform bill. But many more actions were perceived as failures or even threats to a safe, functional democracy, including immigration policies defied by state and local governments, volatile dealings with North Korea, unsuccessful attempts to pass major legislation, and the inability to fill government positions or maintain consistent White House staff.

As Nelson demonstrates in a substantial addition to the original book, Trump’s effectiveness, or lack thereof, did not change significantly in his second year in office, but his approach often did. With the Mueller investigation and the midterm elections looming, Trump threw off his advisors’ restraints and acted more directly on his impulses, reverting to the instincts and rhetoric that had won him the election. While opposition to Trump remained strong in many quarters, resistance among GOP leaders crumbled as they were confronted with their constituents’ support of the president.

Published on the second anniversary of Trump’s inauguration, Nelson’s book offers the most complete and up-to-date assessment of this still-unfolding story.

Praise for the first edition:

"Measured, scholarly, and always accessible, this is a cogent analysis of the first year of the Trump presidency."--the Independent

" Trump’s First Year won't generate the bombshell headlines of more sensationalist and gossipy books, but it provides context and balance for its conclusions, ones that are consistently at odds with Trump's own assessment of his performance."--Kirkus Reviews

"Providing one of the earliest objective evaluations of President Donald J. Trump’s administration, Nelson demonstrates why he remains a leading figure in the field of presidency studies."--Choice

Michael Nelson is Fulmer Professor of Political Science at Rhodes College and a Senior Fellow at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. He is the author of Resilient America: Electing Nixon in 1968, Channeling Dissent, and Dividing Government, winner of the American Political Science Association’s Eustadt Award for best book published on the presidency in 2014, and the coeditor, with Jeffrey L. Chidester and Stefanie Georgakis Abbott, of Crucible: The President’s First Year (Virginia)