Jockeying For The American Presidency

"This book will compel scholars to take a new look at the role of "political opportunism" in the presidential selection process. Lara Brown provides a fresh, innovative exploration of the roots of opportunism, one that challenges conventional wisdom as it advances our understanding of this complex topic."--Michael A. Genovese, Loyola Marymount University.

This book assesses the impact of presidential character on the popularity, productivity, and ethics of contemporary presidents. Through comparative analyses, author Lara Brown demonstrates that the character of a president’s leadership does not change in office and that the success of future presidents can be evaluated before they step into the White House. She traces the rise of “amateur outsiders,” like Donald Trump, and asserts the need for systemic reform and cultural reassessment of presidential character. Intended for students and scholars of the presidency, this book also holds appeal for general readers who seek understanding of past and future presidential elections.

In order to understand how Donald Trump's character was thought to be a good fit for the presidency by many Americans, this book reaches back into history to examine the individual characters of the contemporary presidents. Institutional reforms, political events, and cultural changes have altered societal expectations about the appropriate character of a president and what constitutes presidential leadership. Applying a framework of courage, curiosity, and compassion, Lara M. Brown brings character analysis together with leadership approaches in examining the crucial third year of any presidency to gauge its success or failure. Through this comparative investigation, she demonstrates that the character of a president's leadership does not change in office. Thus, the likely success of future presidential candidates can be evaluated long before they step into the White House. Ultimately, Brown shows why American voters are likely to continue to elect unsuitable "amateur outsiders" unless and until systemic reforms are adopted or a cultural reassessment of character occurs. Intended for students and scholars of the presidency, this book holds great appeal for general readers who quest for understanding of the 2016 presidential election and are looking toward 2020 (and beyond) with trepidation as well as hope.

Newly updated to include every president from George Washington to Barack Obama, this book explores the office of the presidency and its power. Although we know the president of the United States as the person who runs the government of our nation, do we know what the responsibilities of the president actually are? And, do we understand what effect his actions have? HAIL TO THE CHIEF: THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY details how this job was inaugurated, how it has changed over time, and why the person in this position is considered one of the most important and powerful leaders in the world. Alan Witschonke's bold portraits and sweeping depictions of the circumstances that have made the American presidency a notable and compelling subject for the entire world will capture the interest of young readers. HAIL TO THE CHIEF brings vividly into focus all the exciting details of the office of the President of the United States.

"Riveting from start to finish". -- Herbert S. Parmet, author of Richard Nixon and His America.

The surprising truth behind Barack Obama's decision to continue many of his predecessor's counterterrorism policies. Conventional wisdom holds that 9/11 sounded the death knell for presidential accountability. In fact, the opposite is true. The novel powers that our post-9/11 commanders in chief assumed—endless detentions, military commissions, state secrets, broad surveillance, and more—are the culmination of a two-century expansion of presidential authority. But these new powers have been met with thousands of barely visible legal and political constraints—enforced by congressional committees, government lawyers, courts, and the media—that have transformed our unprecedentedly powerful presidency into one that is also unprecedentedly accountable. These constraints are the key to understanding why Obama continued the Bush counterterrorism program, and in this light, the events of the last decade should be seen as a victory, not a failure, of American constitutional government. We have actually preserved the framers’ original idea of a balanced constitution, despite the vast increase in presidential power made necessary by this age of permanent emergency.

The Road to War examines how presidential commitments can lead to the use of American military force, and to war. Marvin Kalb notes that since World War II, "presidents have relied more on commitments, public and private, than they have on declarations of war, even though the U.S. Constitution declares rather unambiguously that Congress has the responsibility to "declare" war.