The Presidency and Domestic Policy

by Lammers, William W.; Genovese, Michael A.

• ISBN13: 9781568021256
• ISBN10: 1568021259
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-02-01
• Publisher: Cq Pr

Summary

Each president brings to the White House a distinct set of personal characteristics and a preferred leadership style, but just how much have individual presidents shaped domestic policy? To understand and assess what factors determine one president's success and another's limited accomplishments, it is important to examine both the individual's leadership roles and the circumstances which shape their opportunities for success. This new book systematically examines the first terms of every president from Franklin Delano Roosevelt to William Jefferson Clinton and assesses the leadership style, the policy agenda, and the &BAD:"political opportunity&BAD:" of each. Each president's success in effecting landmark legislation and other policy change is measured and evaluated.William W. Lammers and Michael A. Genovese look at how different levels of opportunity affect leadership and how each president played the political hands he was dealt. By dividing presidents along opportunity lines, Lammers and Genovese assess how skillful each president was in the art of presidential leadership, what strategies and tactics they employed to achieve their goals, and the policy legacies left by each.

Author Biography

William W. Lammers (late) was professor of political science at the University of Southern California Michael A. Genovese is professor of political science and director of the Institute for Leadership at Loyola Marymount University

Table of Contents

List of Tables	ix
Preface	xi
Strategies for Assessing Presidents	3	(26)
The High-Opportunity Presidents	29	(104)
Artful Leadership during Hard Times	31	(40)
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Legislative Leadership and a Credibility Gap	71	(28)
Lyndon B. Johnson
One Big Year	99	(34)
Ronald Reagan
The Moderate-Opportunity Presidents	133	(82)
A Broker with Beliefs	135	(24)
Harry S. Truman
A Skilled Centrist	159	(28)
Dwight D. Eisenhower
A Quest for Heroic Leadership	187	(28)
John F. Kennedy
The Low-Opportunity Presidents	215	(114)
An Activist with an Enemies List	217	(34)
Richard Nixon
An Outsider's Pursuit of ``Trustee'' Leadership	251	(26)
Jimmy Carter
A Reluctant Guardian	277	(22)
George Bush
A Perpetual Campaigner under Siege	299	(30)
Bill Clinton
Conclusion	329	(30)
Opportunities, Challenges, and Skills: Comparing the Presidents	331	(28)
Selected Bibliography	359	(6)
Subject Index	365	(14)
Citations of Authors	379