Synopses & Reviews
This book examines George W. Bushs legacy in terms of his presidential leadership and politics and explains why he was the most controversial president of recent times. It focuses on Bushs expansion of presidential power in pursuit of the “war on terror,” the ideological and pragmatic foundations of his presidential politics, and the complexity of his legacy in both foreign and domestic policy. In addition to an introductory overview, it contains ten original essays that assess the problems of rating the Bush presidency, the nature of Bushs presidential government, ideology and ideas in the Bush presidency, the administrations economic and foreign policies, and the electoral context of the times.
Review
“Assessing George W. Bushs Legacy presents a sound set of analyses of the Bush presidency that adds up to an excellent edited book. Anyone interested in American politics or the Bush administration will benefit greatly from the analyses and insights of these British political scientists.”-- James P. Pfiffner, University Professor, School of Public Policy, George Mason University
“Iwan Morgan and Philip Davies have assembled many of Britain's best scholars of American politics in this collection. Students of the presidency and contemporary American history will benefit from reading the thoughtful and often provocative essays on the complex and consequential presidency of George W. Bush.”--George C. Edwards III, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, George and Julia Blucher Jordan Chair in Presidential Studies, Department of Political Science, Texas A&M University, and editor, Presidential Studies Quarterly
“George W. Bush wanted to be a consequential president. And he was. But what were the consequences of his administration for the presidency, the Republican Party, the U.S. economy at home, and the conduct of U.S. foreign policy overseas? Iwan Morgan, Philip Davies, and their colleagues provide some initial (and discouraging) answers in their important new book Assessing George W. Bush's Legacy: The Right Man? A must-read for all of us who will live with the consequences of the Bush presidency for years to come.”--John Kenneth White, Catholic University of America and author of Barack Obamas America: How New Conceptions of Race, Family, and Religion Ended the Reagan Era
Synopsis
This book examines the legacy of the Bush presidency in term of presidential leadership, politics, and public policy. It focuses on Bush's expansion of presidential power in pursuit of the 'war on terror, ' the ideological and pragmatic foundations of presidential politics, and the complexity of Bush's domestic and foreign policy legacies
About the Author
Iwan Morgan is Professor of US Studies and head of US Programs at the Institute for the Study of the Americas (ISA), University of London. He has written extensively on the US presidency and on budget policy. His books include: Eisenhower versus ‘the Spenders; Deficit Government: Taxing and Spending in Modern America; Nixon; and, most recently, The Age of Deficits: Presidents and Unbalanced Budgets from Jimmy Carter to George W. Bush. He is the director of the ISAs United States Presidency Centre and is chair of the executive committee of the Historians of the Twentieth Century United States.
Philip John Davies is Director of the British Librarys Eccles Centre for American Studies. Among his many publications are: Winning Elections and Political Marketing (co-edited with Bruce Newman); The Federal Nation: Perspectives on American Federalism; Americas Americans: Demographic Issues in American Society and Politic; and Right On? Political Change and Continuity in George W. Bushs America (all co-edited with Iwan Morgan). He is chair of the American Politics Group, one of the largest specialist groups in the Political Studies Association.
Table of Contents
Introduction: The Right Man?--Iwan Morgan * Rating Bush--Andrew Rudalevige * George W. Bushs Style of Presidential Leadership--Nigel Bowles * Bushs Congressional Legacy and Congresss Bush Legacy--John E. Owens * George W. Bush, the Judiciary and the Conservative Constitutional Counter-Revolution: Close but No Cigar--Robert McKeever * The Ethical Record of the Bush Presidency--Clodagh Harrington * Did George W. Bush Pursue a Neoconservative Foreign Policy?--Timothy J. Lynch * George W. Bushs Foreign Policy: Counting the Cost--John Dumbrell * Bush and Big Government Conservatism--Alex Waddan * Bushs Political Economy: Deficits, Debt, and Depression--Iwan Morgan * Bushs Partisan Legacy and the 2008 Elections--Philip John Davies