Synopses & Reviews
Review
Clark M. Clifford For thirty years, Presidential Power has influenced students of the Presidency -- from the quiet comers of the White House to college and university compuses across the nation.
Review
Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. Our most brilliant commentator on the Presidency brings his diagnosis up to date in this witty, inclusive and stylish book.
Review
Aaron Wildavsky University of California, Berkeley Savvy, insightful political portraits of recent presidents, including Ronald Reagan, in relation to what is still the contemporary classic on the Presidency.
Review
Representative Stephen J. Solarz New York An operational Bible for Presidents and their staffs, and an indispensable Baedeker for those who seek to understand both.
Review
Fred I. Greenstein Princeton University Neustadt's book remains the classic account of presidential leadership, and the latest edition has a bonus -- two fascinating new chapters.
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Washington Post Remains brilliant, significantly strengthened and enlarged.
Review
Paul E. Peterson Harvard University The discussion of Iran-Contra reveals how profound was Dick Neustadt's original intepretation of Presidential power.
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Charles O. Jones University of Wisconsin He is so much in command that he doesn't have to tell all. A personal characteristic, a response, an insight -- and soon you see what he sees.
Synopsis
Richard E. Neustadt presents research and analysis on the judgement of presidential leadership and creates a framework of the modern president. In an effort to identify what America uses to measure the success of a president and his leadership, Presidential Power and the Modern President approaches the president himself by looking directly at his influence on governmental action.
From Roosevelt to Reagan, Neustadt examines presidential success and suggests a theory of presidential power, testing it against the events in the administrations of postwar presidents.
About the Author
Richard E. Neustadt is Douglas Dillon Professor of Government Emeritus at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. For three decades an advisor to presidents, their aides, and to members of the cabinet, he is also the author with Ernest R. May of Thinking in Time: The Uses of History for Decision Makers (The Free Press, 1986).
Table of Contents
ContentsPreface to the 1990 Edition
Preface to the First Edition
Acknowledgments, 1990
PART ONE: Presidential Power
1 Leader or Clerk?
2 Three Cases of Command
3 The Power to Persuade
4 Professional Reputation
5 Public Prestige
6 Two Matters of Choice
7 Men in Office
8 The Sixties Come Next
PART TWO: Later Reflections
9 Appraising a President
10 Reappraising Power
11 Hazards of Transition
12 A Matter of Detail
13 Two Cases of Self-Help
Notes
Index