Why Presidents Fail White House Decision Making from Eisenhower to Bush II

by Pious, Richard M.

• ISBN13: 9780742562844
• ISBN10: 0742562840
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-07-25
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

"Presidents are surrounded by political strategists and White House counsel who presumably know enough to avoid making the same mistakes as their predecessors. Why, then, do the same kinds of presidential failures occur over and over again? Why Presidents Fail answers this question by examining presidential fiascos, quagmires, and risky business - the kind of failure that led President Kennedy to groan after the Bay of Pigs invasion, "How could I have been so stupid?"" "In this book, Richard M. Pious looks at nine cases that have become defining events in presidencies from Dwight D. Eisenhower and the U-2 fights to George W. Bush and Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. He uses these cases to draw generalizations about presidential power, authority, rationality, and legitimacy, and he raises questions about the limits of presidential decision making, many of which fly in the face of the conventional wisdom about the modern presidency."--BOOK JACKET.

Author Biography

Richard M. Pious is Adolf S. and Effie E. Ochs Professor of American Studies in the political science department at Barnard College and is on the faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Columbia University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction: Presidential Fiascoes	p. 1
Reputation: Eisenhower and the U-2 Flights	p. 11
Power Stakes: Kennedy and the Bay of Pigs	p. 29
Compellence: Johnson and the Vietnam Escalation	p. 47
Command and Control: Ford and the Mayaguez	p. 77
Rhetoric: Carter and the Malaise Speech	p. 91
Prerogative Power: Reagan and the Iran-Contra Affair	p. 115
Gamesmanship: Bush 41 and the Budget Summit	p. 149
Program Innovation: Clinton and Health Care	p. 183
Parallel Governance: Bush and Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction	p. 217
Presidents Unbound: Crises of Authority and Legitimacy	p. 245
Risk and Resilience: Toward a White House Learning Curve	p. 279
For Further Reading	p. 299
Index	p. 303
About the Author	p. 317
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