Triumphs and Tragedies of the Modern Presidency : Seventy-Six Case Studies in Presidential Leadership

by Abshire, David M.

• ISBN13: 9780275973520
• ISBN10: 0275973522
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-01-30
• Publisher: Greenwood Pub Group

Summary

In early 2000, the Center for the Study of the Presidency organized a group of eminent scholars to examine key cases of Presidential success and failure and the lessons learned. Leading presidential researchers and writers provided 76 case studies organized in nine broad subject areas. After surveying the broad sweep of presidential concerns, the scholars examine the "First One Hundred Days" of an Administration from FDR onward. They then review Executive-Legislative Relations, Domestic Policy, Fiscal Policy and International Economics, National Security Institutions and Decision Making, Foreign Interventions and Interactions, Managing the Executive Branch, Presidential Continuity: The Use of Individuals Across Administrations; and Presidential Crises: Watergate, Iran-Contra, and Impeachment. Must reading for executive branch figures and scholars, researchers, and the interested public concerned with presidential issues and American political history.

Author Biography

DAVID M. ABSHIRE is President of the Center for the Study of the Presidency. He is also co-founder, vice-chairman, and former CEO of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In government, he served on the staff of the White House Minority Leader from 1958-1960

Table of Contents

Prologue Triumphs and Tragedies of The Modern Presidency	iv
David M. Abshire
Council of Scholars	xiv
I. Common Threads and Lessons Learned	1	(18)
II. The ``First One Hundred Days'' of an Administration	19	(34)
Franklin D. Roosevelt's ``First Hundred Days''	20	(1)
James MacGregor Burns
Dwight D. Eisenhower's ``First Hundred Days''	21	(2)
Fred I. Greenstein
John F. Kennedy's ``first One Hundred Days''	23	(2)
Charles Barlett
The ``First One Hundred Days'' Of lyndon Baines Johnson	25	(2)
Michael Beschloss
Richard Nixon's ``First One Hundred Days''	27	(5)
Lee Huebner
Jimmy Carter: Transition and Early Presidency	32	(4)
John p. Burke
Ronald Reagan's ``one Hundred Days''	36	(2)
Lou Cannon
Ronald Regan: Putting Together An Early Action Plan	38	(3)
David Gergen
George H.W. Bush: Transition and Early Presidency	41	(3)
John P. Burkee
The Clinton Presidency: ``The Fist One Hundred Days''	44	(3)
Charles O. Jones
The Presidential ``One Hundred Days:'' An Overview	47	(6)
Richard E. Neustadt
III. Executive-Legislative Relations	53	(26)
The Versailles Treaty	54	(2)
John Milton Cooper
Creation and Implementation of The Marshall Plan, 1947-1948	56	(3)
Larry I. Bland
The Ratification of NATO: Executive-Legislative Cooperation and An Unprecedented Commitment In U.S. Foreign Policy	59	(3)
Elizabeth Edwards Splading
Passage of The Civil Rights Act of 1964	62	(2)
James P. Pfiffner
Lessons From The Reform Act of 1986	64	(2)
Timothy Conlan
Deficit Reduction In 1993: Clinton's First Budget	66	(3)
James P. Pfiffner
President Clinton's Health Care Reform Proposals of 1994	69	(2)
James P. Pfiffner
The Balanced Budget Act of 1997	71	(3)
George C. Edwards III
The 1999 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treay	74	(5)
Carl Cannon
IV. Domestic Policy	79	(34)
The 1956 Federal Highway Act	80	(1)
Geoffrey Perret
JFK's ``Man to the Moon''	81	(3)
Theodore C. Sorensen
The Creation of the Environmental Protection Agency	84	(4)
John C. Whitaker
Trio of Native American Uprisings During the Nixon Presidency	88	(3)
Bradley Patterson
The Nixon Administration Implements School Desegregation	91	(3)
Bradley Patterson
President Ford's Pardon of Richard M. Nixon	94	(3)
Mark J. Rozell
The Superconducting Supercollider	97	(4)
Genene M. Fisher
The Genesis of the Human Geonome Project	101	(5)
Anne G.K. Solomon
The Global Positioning System	106	(7)
Anne G. K. Solomon
V. Fiscal Policy and International Economics	113	(38)
The Bretton Woods Institution	114	(1)
Henry Owen
Leadership in Establishing the Office of the Special Trade Representative	115	(6)
Sherman Katz
The 1971 Dollar Shock and the 1973 Smithsonian Agreement	121	(4)
John R. Malott
Economic ``Shocks'' in U.S.-Japan Relations	125	(4)
William Piez
The Greenspan Commission and the Social Security Reforms of 1983	129	(3)
Rudolph G. Penner
The U.S.-Japan Framework for a New Economic Partnership	132	(6)
William Piez
The Mexican Financial Crisis and U.S. Financial Rescue	138	(2)
Sidney Weintraub
The National Economic Council and The Economic Policy Board	140	(3)
Rudolph G. Penner
The International Financial Crisis of 1997-1998	143	(4)
Roy C. Smith
U.S.-Japan Relations During the Asian Financial Crisis	147	(4)
William Piez
VI. National Security Institutions and Decision Making	151	(30)
President Eisenhower Establishes His National Security Process	152	(2)
Robert R. Bowie
Public Diplomacy: How America Communicates with Others	154	(3)
Barry Zorthian
Stanton H. Burnetti
Reconciling Defense and Detente in NATO: The 1967 Harmel Report	157	(3)
John G. McGinn
The Scowcroft Commission	160	(4)
Charles A. Sorrels
The National Bipartisan (Kissinger) Commission on Central America, 1983-1984	164	(2)
Howard J. Wiarda
Re-Opening Agreements: THe FSX Controversy	166	(4)
John R. Malott
The Enlargement of NATO, 1994-1999	170	(3)
Lawrence S. Kaplan
Presidental Leadership: Bill Clinton and ``NATO Enlargement''	173	(5)
Robert E. Hunter
Miscalculations Leading to Conflict	178	(3)
Samuel R. Williamson
VII. Foreign Interventions and Interactions	181	(62)
The Bay of Pigs Invasion, 1961	182	(2)
James P. Pfiffner
John M. Goshko
The Cuban Missile Crisis: Decision Making Under Pressure	184	(3)
James P. Pfiffner
John M. Goshko
The Vietnam War	187	(4)
Fredrik Logevall
Okinawa Reversion in the Nixon Administration	191	(4)
Michael Schaller
Nixon's Opening to China	195	(2)
Peter W. Rodman
Lessons From Carter's Camp David Summit	197	(2)
William B. Quandt
Lessons for the Next Administration on the ``Consequences of Japan Passing''	199	(5)
Michael J. Green
Reagan and Lebanon	204	(2)
Peter W. Rodman
Strategic Partners: Reagan and Nakasone	206	(2)
Lou Cannon
The New Era: Reagan and Gorbachev	208	(4)
Lou Cannon
The U.S. Panama Crisis: Lessons in Effectiveness of Coercive Diplomatic Measures	212	(5)
Gina Marie L. Hatheway
Presidential Leadership: The Case of German Unification, 1989-1990	217	(3)
Philip Zelikow
The U.S. and Iraq, 1990-1991	220	(6)
James Kitfield
Bush, Clinton, and Somalia	226	(6)
John M. Goshko
The ``Japan By-Pass'' and Clinton'' 1998 Trip to China	232	(3)
John R. Malott
Kosovo, March 1999-June 1999	235	(8)
James Kitfield
VIII. Managing the Executive Branch	243	(34)
The President's Managerial Leadership Responsibilities	244	(12)
Dwight Ink
The Ash Council Recommendations	256	(12)
Dwight Ink
Transforming FEMA	268	(2)
Stephen Barr
Mobilizing for Y2K	270	(3)
Stephen Barr
Technology Policy in the First Clinton Administration	273	(4)
David M. Hart
IX. Presidential Continuity: The Use of Individuals Across Administrations	277	(8)
The Mansfield Transition	278	(1)
Don Oberdorfer
Reagan's Democrat: Max Kampelman	279	(2)
Lou Cannon
Staying the Course: Paul Volcker	281	(1)
Lou Cannon
Back to the Future: Alan Greenspan	282	(1)
Lou Cannon
A Case of Presidental Continuity: Dennis Ross	283	(2)
Stephen S. Rosenfeld
X. Presidential Crises: Watergate, Iran-Contra, and Impeachment	285	(18)
Presidents in Crisis: Watergate, Iran-Contra, and President Clinton's Impeachment	286	(1)
James P. Pfiffner
Watergater	286	(4)
James P. Pfiffner
Iran-Contra	290	(5)
James P. Pfiffner
President Clinton's Impeachment	295	(3)
James P. Pfiffner
Comparing Three Presidents in Crisis	298	(5)
James P. Pfiffner
Contributors	303	(6)
Board of Trustees	309	(2)
Acknowledgments	311	(1)
Bibliography	312	(8)
Index	320