Political Thought And The Origins Of The American Presidency

Author : Ben Lowe
Publisher : University Press of Florida
Page : 343 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2021-06-08
Category : History
ISBN : 9780813057750

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Political Thought and the Origins of the American Presidency by Ben Lowe Pdf

This volume examines the political ideas behind the construction of the presidency in the U.S. Constitution, as well as how these ideas were implemented by the nation’s early presidents. The framers of the Constitution disagreed about the scope of the new executive role they were creating, and this volume reveals the ways the duties and power of the office developed contrary to many expectations. Here, leading scholars of the early republic examine principles from European thought and culture that were key to establishing the conceptual language and institutional parameters for the American executive office. Unpacking the debates at the 1787 Constitutional Convention, these essays describe how the Constitution left room for the first presidents to set patterns of behavior and establish a range of duties to make the office functional within a governmental system of checks and balances. Contributors explore how these presidents understood their positions and fleshed out their full responsibilities according to the everyday operations required to succeed. As disputes continue to surround the limits of executive power today, this volume helps identify and explain the circumstances in which limits can be imposed on presidents who seem to dangerously exceed the constitutional parameters of their office. Political Thought and the Origins of the American Presidency demonstrates that this distinctive, time-tested role developed from a fraught, historically contingent, and contested process. Contributors: Claire Rydell Arcenas | Lindsay M. Chervinsky | François Furstenberg | Jonathan Gienapp | Daniel J. Hulsebosch | Ben Lowe | Max Skjönsberg | Eric Slauter | Caroline Winterer | Blair Worden | Rosemarie Zagarri A volume in the Alan B. and Charna Larkin Series on the American Presidency

Author : Ben Lowe
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 304 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 2021-06-08
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 0813066816

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Political Thought and the Origins of the American Presidency by Ben Lowe Pdf

This volume examines the political ideas behind the construction of the presidency in the U.S. Constitution, as well as how these ideas were implemented by the nation's early presidents. The framers of the Constitution disagreed about the scope of the new executive role they were creating, and this volume reveals the ways the duties and power of the office developed contrary to many expectations. Here, leading scholars of the Early Republic examine principles from European thought and culture that were key to establishing the conceptual language and institutional parameters for the American executive office. Unpacking the debates at the 1787 Constitutional Convention, these essays describe how the Constitution left room for the first presidents to set patterns of behavior and establish a range of duties to make the office functional within a governmental system of checks and balances. Contributors explore how these presidents understood their positions and fleshed out their full responsibilities according to the everyday operations required to succeed. As disputes continue to surround the limits of executive power today, this volume helps identify and explain the circumstances in which limits can be imposed on presidents who seem to dangerously exceed the constitutional parameters of their office. Political Thought and the Origins of the American Presidency demonstrates that this distinctive, time-tested role developed from a fraught, historically contingent, and contested process. A volume in the Alan B. and Charna Larkin Series on the American Presidency

Author : Philip Abbott
Publisher : Waveland Press
Page : 406 pages
File Size : 40,5 Mb
Release : 2009-10-22
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781478607663

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Political Thought in America by Philip Abbott Pdf

Political Thought in America is based on the idea that there are three major languages or traditions of discourse that Americans have employed to interpret the national experience: biblical thought, republicanism, and liberalism, interpreted through the lens of two other languagesconservatism and radicalism. The authors engaging style brings the American political experience to life with clarity and vision, immersing readers into the politics surrounding eleven great crises in our nations history. Through the eyes of philosophers, writers, and orators of each period and the voices of commentators both historical and current, political theories are outlined in the context of the debates and conversations of the men and women who have struggled to extricate the nation from crisis. New to the fourth edition are an analysis of the impact of Barack Obama on contemporary American political discourse, recent developments in the war on terror, and a section on gay and lesbian protest. A new chapter has been added that discusses the phenomenon of globalization and its challenge to American exceptionalism. As in previous editions, each chapter ends with an insightful author commentary and contains an up-to-date and comprehensive bibliographical essay, along with a list of major works for each period.

Author : David J. Siemers
Publisher : University of Missouri Press
Page : 262 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2010-01-01
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780826272058

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Presidents and Political Thought by David J. Siemers Pdf

“What did the president know and when did he know it?” takes on a whole new meaning in Presidents and Political Thought. Though political philosophy is sometimes considered to be dry and abstract, many of our presidents have found usable ideas embedded within it. In this first comparative study of presidents and political theory, David Siemers examines how some of them have applied this specialized knowledge to their job. Presidents and Political Thought explores the connection between philosophy and practical politics through a study of six American chief executives: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Bill Clinton. Writing at the intersection of politics, history, and philosophy, Siemers combines his extensive understanding of political philosophy with careful research and analysis of individual presidents to produce provocative and astute judgments about how their understanding of political theory affected their performance. Each chapter examines a particular president’s attitude about political theory, the political theorists he read and admired, and the ways in which he applied theory in his activities as president. Viewing presidents through the lens of political theory enables Siemers to conclude that Madison and Adams have been significantly underrated. Wilson is thought to have abandoned his theoretical viewpoint as president, but actually, he just possessed an unorthodox interpretation of his favorite thinker, Edmund Burke. Often thought to be so pragmatic or opportunistic that they lacked any convictions, FDR and Clinton gained their orientations to politics from political theory. These and other insights suggest that we cannot understand these presidencies without being more aware of the ideas the presidents brought to the office. Siemers’s study takes on special relevance as the United States experiences regime change and a possible party realignment because, as he notes, Barack Obama has read and learned from political theory, too. Avoiding much of the jargon that often accompanies political theory, this book demonstrates the relevance of political theory in the real world, chronicling both the challenges and potentially rich payoffs when presidents conceive of politics not just as a way to reward friends and punish enemies, but as a means to realize principles.

Author : Saladin Ambar,Taylor & Francis Group
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 192 pages
File Size : 41,5 Mb
Release : 2019-11
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1138343897

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Reconsidering American Political Thought by Saladin Ambar,Taylor & Francis Group Pdf

Filling in the missing spaces left by traditional textbooks on American Political Thought, Reconsidering American Political Thought uses race, gender and ethnicity as a lens through which to engage on-going debates on American values and intellectual traditions. Weaving document-based texts analysis with short excerpts from classics in American literature, this book presents a re-examination of the political and intellectual debates of consequence throughout American history. Purposely beginning the story in 1619, Saladin Ambar reassesses the religious, political, and social histories of the colonial period in American history. Hereafter Ambar moves through the story of America, with each chapter focusing on a different era in American history up to the present day. Ambar threads together analysis of periods including Thomas Jefferson's aspiration to create an "Empire of Liberty", the ethnic, racial and gender-based discourse instrumental in creating a "Yankee" industrial state between 1877-1932, and the intellectual, cultural, and social forces that led to the political rise of Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama in recent decades. In closing, Ambar assesses the prospects for a new, more invigorated political thought and discourse to reshape and redirect national energies and identity in the Trump presidency. Reconsidering American Political Thought presents a broad and subjective view about critical arguments in American political thought, giving future generations of students and lecturers alike an inclusive understanding of how to teach, research, study, and think about American Political Thought.

Author : David Greenberg
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
Page : 560 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2016-01-11
Category : History
ISBN : 9780393285505

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Republic of Spin: An Inside History of the American Presidency by David Greenberg Pdf

“A brilliant, fast-moving narrative history of the leaders who have defined the modern American presidency.”—Bob Woodward In Republic of Spin—a vibrant history covering more than one hundred years of politics—presidential historian David Greenberg recounts the rise of the White House spin machine, from Teddy Roosevelt to Barack Obama. His sweeping, startling narrative takes us behind the scenes to see how the tools and techniques of image making and message craft work. We meet Woodrow Wilson convening the first White House press conference, Franklin Roosevelt huddling with his private pollsters, Ronald Reagan’s aides crafting his nightly news sound bites, and George W. Bush staging his “Mission Accomplished” photo-op. We meet, too, the backstage visionaries who pioneered new ways of gauging public opinion and mastering the media—figures like George Cortelyou, TR’s brilliantly efficient press manager; 1920s ad whiz Bruce Barton; Robert Montgomery, Dwight Eisenhower’s canny TV coach; and of course the key spinmeisters of our own times, from Roger Ailes to David Axelrod. Greenberg also examines the profound debates Americans have waged over the effect of spin on our politics. Does spin help our leaders manipulate the citizenry? Or does it allow them to engage us more fully in the democratic project? Exploring the ideas of the century’s most incisive political critics, from Walter Lippmann and H. L. Mencken to Hannah Arendt and Stephen Colbert, Republic of Spin illuminates both the power of spin and its limitations—its capacity not only to mislead but also to lead.

Author : Jack Rakove
Publisher : HMH
Page : 501 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 2010-05-11
Category : History
ISBN : 9780547486741

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Revolutionaries by Jack Rakove Pdf

“[A] wide-ranging and nuanced group portrait of the Founding Fathers” by a Pulitzer Prize winner (The New Yorker). In the early 1770s, the men who invented America were living quiet, provincial lives in the rustic backwaters of the New World, devoted to family and the private pursuit of wealth and happiness. None set out to become “revolutionary.” But when events in Boston escalated, they found themselves thrust into a crisis that moved quickly from protest to war. In Revolutionaries, a Pulitzer Prize–winning historian shows how the private lives of these men were suddenly transformed into public careers—how Washington became a strategist, Franklin a pioneering cultural diplomat, Madison a sophisticated constitutional thinker, and Hamilton a brilliant policymaker. From the Boston Tea Party to the First Continental Congress, from Trenton to Valley Forge, from the ratification of the Constitution to the disputes that led to our two-party system, Rakove explores the competing views of politics, war, diplomacy, and society that shaped our nation. We see the founders before they were fully formed leaders, as ordinary men who became extraordinary, altered by history. “[An] eminently readable account of the men who led the Revolution, wrote the Constitution and persuaded the citizens of the thirteen original states to adopt it.” —San Francisco Chronicle “Superb . . . a distinctive, fresh retelling of this epochal tale . . . Men like John Dickinson, George Mason, and Henry and John Laurens, rarely leading characters in similar works, put in strong appearances here. But the focus is on the big five: Washington, Franklin, John Adams, Jefferson, and Hamilton. Everyone interested in the founding of the U.S. will want to read this book.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

Author : Bryan-Paul Frost,Jeffrey Sikkenga
Publisher : Lexington Books
Page : 852 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 2003
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 0739106244

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History of American Political Thought by Bryan-Paul Frost,Jeffrey Sikkenga Pdf

This book is a collection of secondary essays on America's most important philosophic thinkers--statesmen, judges, writers, educators, and activists--from the colonial period to the present. Each essay is a comprehensive introduction to the thought of a noted American on the fundamental meaning of the American regime.

Author : Niels Aage Thorsen
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Page : 288 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2014-07-14
Category : History
ISBN : 9781400859313

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The Political Thought of Woodrow Wilson, 1875-1910 by Niels Aage Thorsen Pdf

Niels Thorsen argues that Woodrow Wilson was one of America's most important political scientists. Focusing on the period from Wilson's early years until he was elected Governor of New Jersey, this work shows why he deserves a prominent place in the history of American political thought, even apart from his later attainments in the political arena. His book Congressional Government, his seminal article on "The Study of Public Administration," and his textbook on The State were important contributions during the formative years of academic political science in America. In contrast to those who propose psychological explanations of Wilson's early interest in political problems, Thorsen contends that the crisis of the election of 1876 against the backdrop of the Civil War was decisive in turning Wilson's attention to political ideas. Implying the abandonment of a more traditional form of political thought based on the social contract and on constitutionalism, egalitarianism, and common sense, Wilson linked his conclusions about the nature of politics to the rise of the social and economic sciences. Distinctive in his academic work were ideas about social and economic diversification as the condition for the growth of national power, and about political leadership asserted at home and abroad as a way to overcome traditional American fears about centralized power. Originally published in 1988. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Author : Charles Coleman Thach
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 198 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 1923
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : UOM:39015011238410

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The Creation of the Presidency, 1775-1789 by Charles Coleman Thach Pdf

Author : Charles Edward Merriam,Sidney A. Pearson, Jr.
Publisher : Transaction Pub
Page : 364 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2007-12
Category : History
ISBN : 141280714X

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A History of American Political Theories by Charles Edward Merriam,Sidney A. Pearson, Jr. Pdf

A History of American Political Theory is a comprehensive attempt to understand the full sweep of American political thought since the founding. Working within the liberal-progressive tradition, Merriam reviewed American political history in its entirety, from the founding down to his own day. He was not out to reduce political thought to a single element such as economics alone; his aim was to encompass the whole of modem social science. The political science of the liberal-progressive tradition has roots and assumptions that were born in this period and nurtured by scholars such as Merriam. The progressive tradition in general and Merriam in particular interpreted the rise of a new science of politics that would be required for the liberal-progressive world view he represented. His work stands at a momentous fork in the road; two great traditions of how American democracy should be understood, interpreted, and analyzed parted company and afterward each went their separate ways. These traditions are represented, respectively, by the founders and the liberal-progressives. There was much at stake in these academic debates, though the consequences were not entirely foreseen at the time. An overview of the authors, works, and general source material covered in History of American Political Theories is impressive. Merriam viewed the study of American democracy as an eclectic activity embracing the broadest definition of the social sciences, with particular emphasis on psychology. Such a transformation required that the social sciences be grouped as a whole rather than fragmented into separate and distinct academic departments. Charles Merriam (1874-1953) was professor of political science at the University of Chicago. He served on the Research Committee on Social Trends under President Hebert Hoover and on the National Resources Planning Board under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He is known as the father of the behavioral movement in political science and believed that theories of political process needed to be linked to practical political activity. Sidney A. Pearson, Jr. is professor emeritus of political science at Radford University. He is the series editor of Library of Liberal Thought at Transaction Publishers. In addition, he also wrote new introductions for Presidential Leadership, The New Democracy, and Party Government, all available from Transaction.

Author : Sarah Burns
Publisher : University Press of Kansas
Page : 328 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2019-11-15
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780700628735

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The Politics of War Powers by Sarah Burns Pdf

The Constitution of the United States divides war powers between the executive and legislative branches to guard against ill-advised or unnecessary military action. This division of powers compels both branches to hold each other accountable and work in tandem. And yet, since the Cold War, congressional ambition has waned on this front. Even when Congress does provide initial authorization for larger operations, they do not provide strict parameters or clear end dates. As a result, one president after another has initiated and carried out poorly developed and poorly executed military policy. The Politics of War Powers offers a measured, deeply informed look at how the American constitutional system broke down, how it impacts decision-making today, and how we might find our way out of this unhealthy power division. Sarah Burns starts with a nuanced account of the theoretical and historical development of war powers in the United States. Where discussions of presidential power often lean on the concept of the Lockean Prerogative, Burns locates a more constructive source in Montesquieu. Unlike Locke, Montesquieu combines universal normative prescriptions with an emphasis on tailoring the structure to the unique needs of a society. In doing so, the separation of powers can be customized while maintaining the moderation needed to create a healthy institutional balance. He demonstrates the importance of forcing the branches into dialogue, putting them, as he says, “in a position to resist” each other. Burns’s conclusion—after tracing changes through Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s administration, the Cold War, and the War on Terror—is that presidents now command a dangerous degree of unilateral power. Burns’s work ranges across Montesquieu’s theory, the debate over the creation of the Constitution, historical precedent, and the current crisis. Through her analysis, both a fuller picture of the alterations to the constitutional system and ideas on how to address the resulting imbalance of power emerge.

Author : Daniel D. Stid
Publisher : University Press of Kansas
Page : 248 pages
File Size : 40,5 Mb
Release : 2021-10-08
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9780700631728

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The President as Statesman by Daniel D. Stid Pdf

A political scientist who went on to become president, Woodrow Wilson envisioned a "responsible government" in which a strong leader and principled party would integrate the separate executive and legislative powers. His ideal, however, was constantly challenged by political reality. Daniel Stid explores the evolution of Wilson's views on this form of government and his endeavors as a statesman to establish it in the United States. The author looks over Professor and then President Wilson's shoulder as he grappled with the constitutional separation of powers, demonstrating the importance of this effort for American political thought and history. Although Wilson is generally viewed as an unstinting and effective opponent of the separation of powers, the author reveals an ambivalent statesman who accommodated the Founders' logic. This book challenges both the traditional and revisionist views of Woodrow Wilson by documenting the moderation of his statesmanship and the resilience of the separation of powers. In doing so, it sheds new light on American political development from Wilson's day to our own. Throughout the twentieth century, political scientists and public officials have called for constitutional changes and political reforms that were originally proposed by Wilson. By reexamining the dilemmas presented by Wilson's program, Stid invites a reconsideration of both the expectations we place on the presidency and the possibilities of leadership in the Founders' system. The President as Statesman contributes significantly to ongoing debates over Wilson's legacy and raises important questions about the nature of presidential leadership at a time when this issue is at the forefront of public consciousness.

Author : Shawn J. Parry-Giles,David S. Kaufer
Publisher : Penn State Press
Page : 235 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2017-04-27
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9780271079981

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Memories of Lincoln and the Splintering of American Political Thought by Shawn J. Parry-Giles,David S. Kaufer Pdf

In the aftermath of the Civil War, Republicans and Democrats who advocated conflicting visions of American citizenship could agree on one thing: the rhetorical power of Abraham Lincoln’s life. This volume examines the debates over his legacy and their impact on America’s future. In the thirty-five years following Lincoln’s assassination, acquaintances of Lincoln published their memories of him in newspapers, biographies, and edited collections in order to gain fame, promote partisan aims, champion his hardscrabble past and exalted rise, and define his legacy. Shawn Parry-Giles and David Kaufer explore how style, class, and character affected these reminiscences. They also analyze the ways people used these writings to reinforce their beliefs about citizenship and presidential leadership in the United States, with specific attention to the fissure between republicanism and democracy that still exists today. Their study employs rhetorical and corpus research methods to assess more than five hundred reminiscences. A novel look at how memories of Lincoln became an important form of political rhetoric, this book sheds light on how divergent schools of U.S. political thought came to recruit Lincoln as their standard-bearer.

Author : William G. Howell,Saul P. Jackman,Jon C. Rogowski
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 367 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2013-08-14
Category : History
ISBN : 9780226048420

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The Wartime President by William G. Howell,Saul P. Jackman,Jon C. Rogowski Pdf

“It is the nature of war to increase the executive at the expense of the legislative authority,” wrote Alexander Hamilton in the Federalist Papers. The balance of power between Congress and the president has been a powerful thread throughout American political thought since the time of the Founding Fathers. And yet, for all that has been written on the topic, we still lack a solid empirical or theoretical justification for Hamilton’s proposition. For the first time, William G. Howell, Saul P. Jackman, and Jon C. Rogowski systematically analyze the question. Congress, they show, is more likely to defer to the president’s policy preferences when political debates center on national rather than local considerations. Thus, World War II and the post-9/11 wars in Afghanistan and Iraq significantly augmented presidential power, allowing the president to enact foreign and domestic policies that would have been unattainable in times of peace. But, contrary to popular belief, there are also times when war has little effect on a president’s influence in Congress. The Vietnam and Gulf Wars, for instance, did not nationalize our politics nearly so much, and presidential influence expanded only moderately. Built on groundbreaking research, The Wartime President offers one of the most significant works ever written on the wartime powers presidents wield at home.