Research Topic
Richard Nixon, the Office of Economic Opportunity and the limits of presidential power in the wake of the Great Society
Supervisor: Gareth Davies
I am a political historian of the modern United States, with a particular emphasis on the role played by non-elected actors in the US political system. My dissertation, which I am currently revising into a manuscript, demonstrated how bureaucrats and public interest lawyers worked together to protect anti-poverty programs from retrenchment during the presidency of Richard Nixon.
I am currently a Fellow of the Rothermere American Institute at the University of Oxford, where I also teach on the undergraduate survey course. I also hold degrees from the University of Melbourne and from the University of Oxford (MSt and DPhil).
In addition to my scholarly work, I provide public commentary on contemporary US politics. My writing has appeared in the Washington Post and I have been interviewed on the BBC World Service, BBC News (TV), BBC Oxford, France24, and Euronews.
If you have further interest in my work, please download my CV or contact me at mitchell.robertson[at]history.ox.ac.uk