The Provisional Pulpit

by Rottinghaus, Brandon

• ISBN13: 9781603441957
• ISBN10: 1603441956
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-04-07
• Publisher: Texas A & M Univ Pr

Summary

The cornerstone of the public presidency is the ability of the White House to influence, shape, and even manipulate public opinion. Ultimately, although much has been written about presidential leadership of opinion, we are still left with many questions pertaining to the success of presidential opinion leadership efforts throughout the modern presidency. What is still missing is a systematic, sequential approach to check the accuracy of conventional political wisdom on how, when, and under what conditions presidents lead public opinion.

Author Biography

Brandon Rottinghaus is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Houston. He received his PhD from Northwestern University.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. ix
Preface	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xix
Questions and Quandaries of Presidential Leadership	p. 1
The Constrained Presidency: A Conditional Theory of Presidential Leadership	p. 13
Presidential (Non-) Leadership of Public Opinion	p. 37
Successful Presidential Leadership of Public Opinion	p. 54
Successful Leadership in Domestic Policy	p. 81
Nixon Implements Wage and Price Controls	p. 84
Reagan and the Negotiation over the Budget	p. 92
Clinton and the Budget Debate	p. 98
Unsuccessful Leadership in Domestic Policy	p. 110
Kennedy's Medicare Proposal	p. 111
Ford Attempts to "Whip Inflation Now"	p. 119
Reagan "Reforms" Social Security	p. 126
Successful Leadership in Foreign Policy	p. 136
Evolution of Johnson's Vietnam Policy	p. 137
Carter on the Panama Canal Treaties	p. 144
Bush and the Initiation of the Gulf War	p. 151
Unsuccessful Leadership in Foreign Policy	p. 163
Nixon (Temporarily) Escalates Vietnam	p. 164
Reagan Presses for Contra Funding	p. 172
Clinton Withdraws from Somalia	p. 178
Implications for Leadership and the Public Presidency	p. 190
Epilogue: Presidents 43 and 44	p. 203
Case Selection, Matching Statements, and Opinion Polling	p. 217
Case Study Selection and Archival Data Collection	p. 227
Data and Models	p. 234
Notes	p. 253
Bibliography	p. 289
Index	p. 307
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