The Presidency and Domestic Policy

Michael A. Genovese received a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California in 1979. He holds the Loyola Chair of Leadership Studies and is Professor of Political Science, Director of the Institute for Leadership Studies, and President of the Global Policy Institute at Loyola Marymount University. He has been Fellow at Queens College, Oxford University. Professor Genovese has written over 50 books, numerous articles, and book chapters and has won over a dozen teaching awards, including the American Political Science Association’s Distinguished Teaching Award. Todd L. Belt received a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California in 2003. He is Professor and Director of the Political Management Master’s Program in the Graduate School of Political Management at The George Washington University. Belt is the co-author of four books and has published over a dozen chapters in edited scholarly books and over two dozen articles appearing in academic journals. He was awarded the John W. Kluge Fellowship in Digital Studies at the Library of Congress and has held visiting positions at Wellesley College and Kyungpook University in Daegu, South Korea. He is the recipient of two teaching awards. William W. Lammers (late) received a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1966. He was Professor of Political Science at the University of Southern California. He wrote several books on the presidency and was a noted authority on presidential politics and federal policies toward the aging.

1 Strategies for Assessing Presidents

PART I The High-Opportunity Presidents

2 Franklin D. Roosevelt: Artful Leadership during Hard Times

3 Lyndon B. Johnson: Legislative Leadership and a Credibility Gap

4 Ronald Reagan: One Big Year

5 George W. Bush: A Resolute Decider with a Co-President

PART II The Moderate-Opportunity Presidents

6 Harry S Truman: A Broker with Beliefs

7 Dwight D. Eisenhower: A Skilled Centrist

8 John F. Kennedy: A Quest for Heroic Leadership

9 Barack Obama: A Negotiator without a Partner

10 Donald J. Trump: Outsider, Disruptor, Norm-Buster, Dissembler

Part III The Low-Opportunity Presidents

11 Richard Nixon: An Activist with an Enemies List

12 Jimmy Carter: An Outsider’s Pursuit of “Trustee” Leadership

13 George H. W. Bush: A Reluctant Guardian

14 Bill Clinton: A Perpetual Campaigner under Siege

15 Joe Biden: Cleaning the Augean Stables

Part IV Conclusion

16 Opportunities, Challenges and Skills: Comparing the Presidents