The founders of the American republic believed presidents should be wise and virtuous statesmen consistently advocating community interests when conducting American foreign policy. Yet the most common theoretical model used today for explaining the behavior of politicians is grounded in self-interest, rather than community interest. This book investigates whether past presidents acted as noble statesmen or were driven by such self-interested motivations as re-election, passion, partisanship, media frenzy and increasing domestic support. The book also examines the consequences for the nation of presidential behavior driven by self-interest. Between 1945 and 2008, presidents issued 4,269 threats to nineteen different countries. Professor B. Dan Wood evaluates the causes and consequences of these threats, revealing the nature of presidential foreign policy representation and its consistency with the founding fathers' intentions.

This history of presidential studies surveys the views of leading thinkers and scholars about the constitutional powers of the highest office in the land from the founding to the present.

Statements of resolve - in which leaders indicate that their country is committed to a position and will not back down - are a fixture of international conflict. However, scholars have not agreed on how much these statements affect conflict outcomes or which conditions give them coercive credibility. Statements of Resolve argues that an important and underappreciated factor influencing the impact of resolved statements is the ability to follow through. Roseanne W. McManus explains how adversaries analyze a leader's ability to follow through on statements and shows that perceptions of the ability to follow through are influenced not only by military capabilities but also by less obvious domestic political conditions. Through rigorous statistical tests based on quantitative coding of US presidential statements and case studies of three Cold War conflicts, this book shows that resolved statements can effectively coerce adversaries, but only when a sufficient physical and political ability is present.

Looking beyond the individual office holders to the office itself, this Fourth Edition of Vital Statistics on the Presidency covers George Washington’s tenure through the 2012 election. The book’s expansive view of the presidency allows readers to recognize major themes across administrations and to reach overall conclusions about the nature of the institution and its future. The illuminating data is put into context by thoughtful essays explaining key statistical patterns, making this edition an intriguing and comprehensive reference to important patterns throughout the history of the presidency.

Although presidents may have a difficult time actually leading the public and Congress, voters still desire strong leadership from their commander in chief. In Presidential Leadership in Public Opinion, Jeffrey E. Cohen argues that the perception of presidential leadership in American politics is affected not so much by what presidents accomplish but by whether voters think their president is a good leader. When assessing whether a president is a good leader, voters ask two questions: does the president represent me and the nation? And, is the president strong? Cohen shows that presidential interactions with Congress affect voter perceptions of presidential representation and strength. These perceptions have important implications for public attitudes about American politics. They affect presidential approval ratings, the performance of candidates in presidential elections, attitudes toward Congress, and trust in government. Perceptions of presidential leadership qualities have implications not only for the presidency but also for the larger political system.

For scholars, pundits, the public, and presidents themselves, presidential approval is an evergreen subject. Its actual impact, however, is often unclear: all too frequently approval is reported in a vacuum, dissociated from the American state writ large. Presidential Leverage reaffirms the importance of this contested metric. By situating approval within the context of public trust in government, Daniel E. Ponder reveals how approval shapes presidential strategies for governing, providing a useful measure of the president's place in the political system. The leverage that presidents derive from public opinion exercises considerable influence on their incentives and opportunities for action. Though it is more tenuous and fragile than the authority they derive from the Constitution or the law, it makes certain kinds of executive action more attractive at a given time. Using a quantitative index of presidential leverage, Ponder examines this contextualized approval from John F. Kennedy's administration through Barack Obama's, showing how it has shaped presidential capacity and autonomy, agenda setting, landmark legislation, and unilateral action. His analysis sheds light not only on the complexities of presidential power, but also on a broad swath of national politics and the American state.

A chronological collection of essays, America at the Ballot Box uses the history of presidential elections to illuminate both the fundamental character of American political democracy, and its evolution from the early Republic to the late twentieth century.

A look at the expansion of executive authority in America and the influence of scholars, journalists and presidents themselves.

"Hook’s text delivers a comprehensive but up-to-date and easily accessible account of the internal and external forces that constrain U. S. foreign policy makers." —Niall Michelsen, Western Carolina University The same aspects of American government and society that propelled the United States to global primacy have also hampered its orderly and successful conduct of foreign policy. This paradox challenges U.S. leaders to overcome threats to America′s world power in the face of fast-moving global developments and political upheavals at home. U.S. Foreign Policy explores this paradox, identifies its key sources and manifestations, and considers its future implications. Bestselling author Steven W. Hook shows readers how to think critically about these cascading developments and the link between the process and the conduct of U.S. foreign policy. The Sixth Edition highlights global and domestic shifts in the balance of power that affect U.S. foreign policy. It includes essential coverage of foreign policy initiatives under the Trump administration and how they compare to the actions of his recent predecessors. The most pressing question is whether U.S. foreign policymakers can manage these dynamics in a manner that preserves U.S. primacy. Give your students the SAGE edge! SAGE edge offers a robust online environment featuring an impressive array of free tools and resources for review, study, and further exploration, keeping both instructors and students on the cutting edge of teaching and learning.