The American Presidency

by Bunch, Lonnie G.; Crew, Spencer R.; Hirsch, Mark G.; Rubenstein, Harry R.; Smith, Richard Norton; Bunch, Lonnie G.

• ISBN13: 9781560989929
• ISBN10: 1560989920
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-11-01
• Publisher: Smithsonian Inst Pr

Summary

This lavishly illustrated volume recounts the evolution of the presidency, from the age of George Washington until today. Drawing from the vast collections of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, it provides a revealing glimpse of the culture, particularly the material culture, of the presidency.

Using objects as varied as Thomas Jefferson's portable desk, Abraham Lincoln's stovepipe hat, a 1903 Teddy Bear named for Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt's pince-nez, and a drum played during John E Kennedy's funeral, the book explores how the presidency has changed, and how presidential administrations have shaped -- and been shaped by -- relationships with the American people. Advertisements, movies, and television programs are also invoked to show how popular culture has informed Americans' collective memory of the presidency.

The American Presidency accompanies a permanent exhibition of the same name at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

Author Biography

Harry R. Rubenstein is curator of political history at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xi
Preface	xvii
Introduction	1	(26)
Creating The Presidency	27	(12)
Presidential Campaigns	39	(14)
Celebrating Inaugurations	53	(14)
Presidential Roles	67	(24)
Limits of Presidential Power	91	(16)
The White House As Symbol and Home	107	(16)
Assassination and Mourning	123	(16)
Communicating The Presidency	139	(16)
The Presidency in Popular Imagination	155	(14)
Life After The Presidency	169	(12)
Further Reading	181	(2)
A Presidential Chronology	183	(2)
Acknowledgments	185