POL-345: The Presidency

      The President is the central figure in American politics. This course examines the creation of the office at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, as well as its evolution over 200-plus years of American history. In terms of contemporary politics, we explore the many aspects of the presidential job description.

      During the course, students do original research using historical case studies, resulting in a major paper applying concepts from the course to a particular presidency. The paper will involve textbooks, other books on the presidency, and primary and secondary materials on the specific president.

      The Presidency is offered every three to four semesters. It fulfills the "advanced American politics" requirement for the Political Science major. It also applies towards an American Studies major, and towards secondary school endorsement in American government. It is a Writing Emphasis course.

Presidency Links

The White House page: some propaganda, some trivia, some useful stuff

Miller Center symposium on presidential domestic policy making featuring advisors from Nixon to George W. Bush... note the Miller Center also has much fascinating information available in their presidential oral history project

Early assessments of the George W. Bush presidency (Click on "Conference Schedule")

The American Political Science Association has an organized section on presidential research

The George Washington Papers at University of Virginia

    PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARIES:
The Hoover Presidential Library is less than 40 miles away in West Branch, IA
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Hyde Park, NY
Harry S. Truman, Independence, MO
Dwight D. Eisenhower, Abilene, KS
John F. Kennedy, Boston, MA
Lyndon B. Johnson, Austin, TX
Richard M. Nixon, College Park, MD
Gerald R. Ford, Ann Arbor, MI
Jimmy Carter, Atlanta, GA
Ronald Reagan, Simi Valley, CA
George Bush, College Station, TX
William J. Clinton, Little Rock, AR

An accessible site representing all U.S. Presidents

 americanpresidency.org: John T. Woolley of UC-Santa Barbara has an excellent collection of presidential speeches (some with video and audio) as well as data and graphs

Interesting book about Central Intelligence Agency briefings, 1952-1992

War Department Papers, 1784-1800 (George Mason University)

The  Federalist Papers: Numbers 67-77 address the creation of the Presidency

Presidential taxes

General history links

A well-recommended Vietnam War site

PBS website on the Viet Nam War

citation guide from the Modern Language Association

                              Texts (Spring 2009)

    Colin Campbell, Bert A. Rockman and Andrew Rudalevige (eds), The George W. Bush Legacy (Congressional Quarterly, 2007)
    Ralph Ketcham (ed), The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates (Mentor, 1986)
    Michael Nelson (ed.), The Presidency and the Political System (Congressional Quarterly, 8th ed., 2005)
 

                          Course Outline


I.  ORIGINS AND EVOLUTION OF THE PRESIDENCY

Evolution of the constitutional presidency: Tulis (Nelson 3)
Design and structure:  Ketcham, pp. 42-43, 114-120, 130-134, 165-171
Defining powers:  Ketcham, pp. 120-127, 159-160
Opposition:  Ketcham, pp. 194-198, 317-321; Cato 4
Defense:  Federalist 68-70, 72
Other chief executives:  Rockman (Nelson 2)
Divided government: Quirk and Nesmith (Nelson 19)
George W. Bush and the constitutional presidency: Aberbach (C/R/R 6)

II.  THE PRESIDENTIAL JOB DESCRIPTION

The use of public spectacle:  Miroff (Nelson 10)
News Media:  Jacobs (Nelson 11)
George W. Bush and the public: Jacobson (C/R/R 4)
Interest groups: Tichenor (Nelson 12)
George W. Bush and interest groups: Peterson (C/R/R 13)
Presidential-party relations: Milkis (Nelson 13)
George W. Bush and political parties: Campbell (C/R/R 2)

III.  PRESIDENTIAL RELATIONSHIPS

The cabinet: Rudalevige (Nelson 20)
Administration: Burke (Nelson 14)
George W. Bush and the bureaucracy: Rudalevige (C/R/R 7)
Presidential-Congressional relations:  Dickinson (Nelson 17)
George W. Bush and Congress: Sinclair (C/R/R 8)
George W. Bush and domestic policy: Foreman (C/R/R 12)
Presidential-judicial relations: Yalof (Nelson 18)
George W. Bush and the courts: Yalof (C/R/R 9)
Presidential warmaking: Polsky (Nelson 21)
George W. Bush and foreign policy: Tanter and Kersting (C/R/R 10)


Last update:  9/16/09

Next Course:  Contemporary Political Theory

Last Course: The American Congress

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