Trump vs. Biden: Presidential Leadership and Legacy Rollback

Happening On 10/09/2026

Dr Clodagh Harrington, School of History, UCC

Thursday 10 September 2026, 16.00 (4 PM)

In-person event. School of History, seminar room in Tyrconnell, UCC (up Perrott Avenue, first street on the right, first house on the left), 16:00-17:00.

For further information contact Dr Jérôme aan de Wiel, School of History, UCC: j.aandewiel@ucc.ie

In-person event

This paper examines the politics of presidential legacy through the perspective of rollback, asking how much of Donald Trump's first-term presidency Joe Biden was able to reverse, and what that record reveals about the durability of executive power in contemporary America. Drawing on the second volume of a trilogy (EUP, 2021, 2026), it maps Trump's legacy across a number of areas, arguing that the 45th presidency was more consequential than a conventional legislative scorecard would suggest. Biden's rollback, though substantial in some regards, was structurally constrained. The paper concludes that Biden's presidency is better understood as an interval between the Trump terms than a restoration and offers some reflections on this period of high institutional stress.

Book: https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-trump-vs-biden.html Dr Clodagh Harrington joined University College Cork in 2022. Previously, she was Associate Professor of American Politics at De Montfort University, Leicester, where she had worked since 2006. Her latest monograph, co-authored with Alex Waddan (University of Leicester), entitled Trump V Biden: Presidential Leadership and Legacy Rollback, is published in September 2026 by Edinburgh University Press. This is the follow-up to Obama V Trump (EUP 2021) which also dealt with presidential legacy management.

She currently serves on the international advisory board of Political Studies Review and is a series co-editor for EUP. Clodagh spent nine years on the executive board of the (UK PSA) American Politics Group and is a regular contributor to UK and international media.