The Postmodern President

Part 1 Imperative pressures for success: the emergence of the postmodern Presidency - from the traditional to the postmodern President; learning to live with other elephants; the imperatives of the Presidency - going Washington; going public; going international; juggling imperatives; assessing the Presidency - conflicting standards for the modern President; the postmodern President; between world leadership and global failure; widening the view from the Oval office - an alternative to the Presidency; subgovernments and government; the responsibility gap. Part 2 Tangible and intangible resources of leadership: resources and constraints of government - how much does government do?; government as a constraint; sizing up resources means cutting the President down to size; learning to campaign or learning to govern? - coming in from the outside; another way - going government; comings and goings of leaders; perpetually campaigning for support - leading a no-party system; courting mass popularity through the media, courting Congress; taking over the White House - hitting the ground running - energy in search of direction; keeping control within the White House; political strategies for organizing the White House; the President - a chief but not an executive - coming to terms with the executive branch; the President as a policy taster; keeping out of trouble; influencing organized anarchy. Part 3 Problems of leadership without hegemony: the economy - an open market for policy - trying to manage a bucking-bronco economy; adding up numbers that don't add up; living with your banker; national security - one country but many voices - allies and enemies within Washington; pursuing security from the White House; the international system is stronger than the President - keeping the military balance; the end of American hegemony; toward American-Japanese bigemony; the White House in an open market. Part 4 Evaluation: how popular should a President be? - how much approval?; when a President should be unpopular; no long-term decline; as the world closes in - after Reagan, the great asymmetry; the future of the postmodern President; George Bush as a postmodern President; guardianship - the idea of the Bush presidency; the budget inheritance; foreigners with alien policies; the test of war in the Persian Gulf; vulnerability of a postmodern president. Appendices: Presidents of the United States; the President in the constitution; inaugural address of President John F.Kennedy; nomination acceptance speech of George Bush; inaugural address of President George Bush.