The Modern Presidency

by Pfiffner, James P.

• ISBN13: 9780495802778
• ISBN10: 0495802778
• Edition: 6th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-02-25
• Publisher: Cengage

Summary

THE MODERN PRESIDENCY is a concise, accessible and sophisticated text that uses cases to illustrate important aspects of presidential action and decision-making. Written by a top scholar on the presidency, and thoroughly updated through the summer of 2009 to include the presidency of Barack Obama, the book looks at presidents as individuals and at the large institutions that make up the modern presidency.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xv
About the Author	p. xvii
The Presidency: Origins and Powers	p. 1
Origins of the Presidency	p. 6
Powers of the President	p. 10
Presidential Power	p. 12
Notes	p. 15
The President and the Public	p. 18
Nominating the President	p. 19
Presidential Elections	p. 26
The General Election	p. 26
Problematic Elections	p. 32
The 2000 Election	p. 34
Electoral College Reform?	p. 36
Third-Party Presidential Candidates	p. 41
Electoral Trends	p. 43
The Media, Public Opinion, and the Permanent Campaign	p. 45
Presidents and the Media	p. 45
Public Opinion	p. 49
Conclusion	p. 53
Notes	p. 53
The White House Staff and Organization	p. 56
Roosevelt and Truman: Laying the Foundations	p. 57
Eisenhower Institutionalizes the White House	p. 60
Kennedy and the Collegial Model	p. 63
Lyndon Johnson's One-Man Show	p. 66
Nixon's Tight Hierarchy	p. 67
Ford's and Carter's Lessons	p. 69
Reagan's Two Contrasting Terms	p. 72
Bush's Pit Bull	p. 77
Clinton's Three-Ring Circus	p. 81
George W. Bush and Cheney's Shadow	p. 84
The Obama White House and Its Czardoms	p. 88
Conclusion	p. 91
Notes	p. 93
The White House and the Executive Branch	p. 97
White House Staff and the Executive Office of the President	p. 98
The President's Cabinet	p. 101
Cabinet Secretaries Versus the White House Staff	p. 110
Reorganization	p. 114
Political Appointments	p. 116
The Executive Branch Bureaucracy	p. 122
Conclusion	p. 125
Notes	p. 127
The President and Congress	p. 131
Constitutional Fundamentals	p. 131
Veto Power	p. 134
Signing Statements	p. 138
The President as Legislative Leader	p. 141
The Political Fundamentals	p. 144
Presidential Skills	p. 147
Cases of Presidential Leadership of Congress	p. 152
Kennedy and the House Rules Committee: Behind-the-Scenes Leadership	p. 152
LBJ's Activist Approach: The 1964 Civil Rights Act	p. 154
Richard Nixon: The Politics of Confrontation	p. 156
Jimmy Carter: The Moral Equivalent of War	p. 159
Ronald Reagan: The FY1982 Budget Juggernaut	p. 162
Clinton and Two Congresses: A Study in Contrast	p. 164
President George W. Bush and Congress: Contrasting Mandates	p. 168
The Presidency and a Polarized Congress	p. 175
The Roots of Congressional Polarization	p. 176
The Consequences of Partisan Polarization	p. 177
Conclusion	p. 179
Notes	p. 180
The President and National Security	p. 186
The War Power	p. 188
World War II	p. 190
Korea	p. 190
Vietnam	p. 191
The War Powers Resolution of 1973	p. 192
The Persian Gulf War	p. 194
Other Constitutional Powers	p. 196
The National Security Council Dominates the Executive Branch	p. 199
Presidential Leadership and Crisis Decision Making	p. 205
Two Decisions on Vietnam: Eisenhower and Johnson	p. 205
Two Decisions on Cuba: Kennedy's Lessons	p. 207
Two Decisions on Iran: Carter and Reagan	p. 210
President Bush: Two Wars Begun in Two Years	p. 213
Did President Bush Mislead the Country in His Arguments for War with Iraq?	p. 219
Conclusion	p. 224
Notes	p. 224
Presidential Greatness and Abuse of Power	p. 230
Corruption and Abuse of Power	p. 231
Watergate	p. 233
Iran-Contra	p. 237
President Clinton's Impeachment and Senate Trial	p. 239
George W. Bush's Extraordinary Claims to Executive Power	p. 245
Suspending the Geneva Conventions and Torture	p. 245
Suspending Habeas Corpus	p. 246
Warrantless Electronic Surveillance by the National Security Agency	p. 246
Signing Statements	p. 247
The Unitary Executive Theory	p. 248
Presidential Greatness and Reputation	p. 252
Conclusion: Public Expectations and the Presidency	p. 260
Notes	p. 262
Presidents of the United States	p. 266
The Constitution of the United States of America: Articles I and II	p. 268
Constitutional Amendments That Affect the Presidency: Amendments XII, XX, XXII, and XXV	p. 275
Index	p. 278
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