Presidential Power

450 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: persuasion tactics

Richard E. Neustadt, the author of Presidential Power, addresses the politics of leadership and how the citizens of the United States rate the performance of the president's term. We measure his leadership by saying that he is either "weak or "strong" and Neustadt argues that we have the right to do so, because his office has become the focal point of politics and policy in our political system. Neustadt brings to light three main points: how we measure the president, his strategy of presidential influence, and how to study them both. Today we deal with the President himself and with his influence on government action. The president now includes about 2000 men and women, the president is only one of them, but his performance can not be measured without focusing on himself. Richard Neustadt today is a professor of politics and has written many books on subjects pertaining to government and the inter workings of governments. He has many years of personal experience working with the government along with the knowledge of what makes a president powerful. He has worked under President Truman, Kennedy and Johnson. His credibility of politics has enhanced his respect in the field of politics. His works are studied in many Universities and he is considered well versed in his opinions of many different presidents. It is true that he seems to use Truman and Eisenhower as the main examples in this book and does show the reader the mistakes he believes were made along the way in achieving power. Neustagt begins with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, whom he believes is the one president that knew how best to yield his power. He uses other examples throughout the book of Presidents from FDR to Reagan and endeavors to show the reader the ways in which power and persuasion was used in order for the presidents too perform at the best of their ability and still retain the power to persuade in order to govern the country and appease the public. Neustadt points out to the reader his opinion of the ways the president power is seen by others and how affective it is when certain strategies are applied correctly.

Show More
Related

  • Political Time: Determining Presidential Legacies

    1133 Words  | 3 Pages

    Stephen Skowronek writes about political time and how one can determine the legacy president will leave behind at the time their presidency is done. The president has immense powers when he comes to office but the challenges they each face vary depending on the time they take office. Skowronek analyzes and demonstrates that the most essential factor for a president to attempt to legitimize his actions and orders will be the actions of the president before him. According to the actions of George W. Bush is how we can determine where Barack Obama falls under and following the chain the next president. If Hillary Clinton were to win the 2016 election she would fall under the politics of articulation and Barack Obama would fall under the politics

    Read More

  • Presidential Powers: A Comparsion of Predencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama

    1036 Words  | 3 Pages

    As the President of the United States, a president have powers that other members of the government do not. Presidential power can be defined in numerous ways. Political scientists Richard Neustadt and William Howell give different views on what is presidential power. These polarized views of presidential powers can be used to compare and contrast the presidencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

    Read More

  • POS 2041 Final

    843 Words  | 2 Pages

    Of the most powerful people in the world, the President of the United States of America hits the top of the list. Even though the policy agendas that presidents set as they take office often go unfulfilled, the office of President is still one of the most envied spots to have. But why could this be? It is because the United States is the most powerful nation in the world and with the President as the leader, he is said to have the most power in the world ("Top Ten Most Powerful Countries in the World"). With power comes responsibility and with this position he must govern a country while abiding by the rules.

    Read More

  • The New Jersey Plan for the Constitution

    777 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sidney M. Milkis, Michael Nelson. The American Presidency Origins & Development, 1776-2011. Washington DC: CQ Press, 2008.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Theodore Roosevelt And Ronald Reagan

    1973 Words  | 4 Pages

    The U.S. president is a person deemed to be the most fitting person to lead this country through thick and thin. It’s been such a successful method that it has led to 43 individual men being put in charge of running this country. However, this doesn’t mean that each one has been good or hasn’t had an issue they couldn’t resolve when in office. But no matter what, each one has left a very unique imprint on the history and evolution of this nation. However when two are compared against one another, some rather surprising similarities may be found. Even better, is what happens when two presidents are compared and they are from the same political party but separated by a large numbers of years between them. In doing this, not only do we see the difference between the two but the interesting evolution of political idea in one party.

    Read More

  • Neustadt's Argument On Presidential Power

    1183 Words  | 3 Pages

    I will start with explaining Neustadt’s arguments about presidential power in his book. Then further my answer to the extent in which compare other political scholars, Skowronek, Howell and Edwards in response to Neustadt’s points of view about American presidency.

    Read More

  • Franklin Roosevelt Redefined the American Presidency

    1411 Words  | 3 Pages

    In order to understand Franklin Roosevelt as the first modern President, it is crucial to examine how the “modern” presidency differed from past presidencies. Renka asserts that the modern presidency’s power comes from four features: “the rise of the United States to world power status, rise of the central government within the American federal system, creation of a modern electronic communication networks enabling the rhetorical presidency to expand, and the creation of a modern administrative apparatus for the president and the White House” (The Modern Presidency from Roosevelt through George W. Bush). Each of these came about under the “entrepreneurial leadership” of Roosevelt (Greenstein 3).

    Read More

  • Assessing Presidential Character: A James D. Barber Perspective

    960 Words  | 2 Pages

    James D. Barber is a man who explains to us how we should elect a president. He bases his analysis on the candidate’s character. The character can be, the way this individual views the world. It can be the style of government; it can also be the way this individual relates to others. With this theory, James has created a typology. This typology has four categories, Active positive described as the “best” president. Second, Active-negative described as the “worst” president. Third, Passive-positive described as a weak president. Last, passive- negative also described as a weak president. James has evaluated many presidents and placed them in this typology like, JFK, Bush, Eisenhower, Hoover, Wilson, Reagan and many more. It is fair to

    Read More

  • Does the Public Have Unrealistic Expectations for the Presidency?

    1493 Words  | 3 Pages

    The president has a significant amount of power; however, this power is not unlimited, as it is kept in check by both the judicial and legislative branches. The president is held responsible for passing legislation that will improve the lives of everyday Americans, even though he shares his legislative powers with Congress. The sharing of power acts as an impediment to the president’s ability to pass legislation quickly and in the form it was originally conceived. However, Americans do not take this into account when judging a president, as they fully expect him to fulfill all of the promises he makes during his campaign. By making promises to pass monumental legislation once elected without mentioning that Congress stands as an obstacle that must be hurdled first, the president creates unrealistic expectations of what he can fulfill during his time in office (Jenkins-Smith, Silva, and Waterman, 2005). A president is expected to have the characteristics that will allow him to efficiently and effectively lead the nation and to accomplish the goals he set during his campaign (Jenkins-Smith et al., 2005). There have been a handful of presidents that have been immortalized as the ideal person to lead the United States and if a president does not live up to these lofty expectations the American public will inevitably be disappointed. Since every president is expected to accomplish great things during his presidency, he is forced to created and project a favorable image through unrealistic promises. The combination of preconceived ideas of the perfect president and the various promises made by presidential candidates during their campaign create unrealistic expectations of the president by the American public.

    Read More

  • The American Presidency: Evolution in Time

    2445 Words  | 5 Pages

    The American Presidency is undoubtedly one of the most widely recognized popular icons throughout the world. Although to most foreigners or those who have never resided in the United States or know little of its history, the executive branch of government may seem to be as dull and unyielding as the rest of the American politics, for those few rare individuals who have taken the time to examine and closely scrutinize this office of the American political system and its recent history, quite the opposite will be said. Unlike Congressional or local elections where typically a number of individuals of the same ideological background must be elected in order for a particular issue to be addressed by the government, when it comes to the presidency, one person, although checked by various other divisions of the same government, has the power and responsibility to literally, as history has proven, change the world. The American people, "like all people everywhere, want to have our (political) cake and eat it too. We want a lot of leadership, but we are notoriously lousy followers" (Genovese). In other words the expectations the public has of the executive office are ever-changing since we demand that our leaders keep up with the evolving world around us and them. Throughout the past seventy eventful years alone, the American people's views, perceptions and demands of the Executive Office of American government have evolved simultaneously with the political and social events of that same time period.

    Read More

  • Essay On The Presidency

    1160 Words  | 3 Pages

    In conclusion, there are different methods and approaches for studying the presidency. All of these approaches contribute in some way to the study of the presidency and increase our understanding of the president, his behavior, his power, and the institution of the presidency itself. However, I believe that future presidential research within political science should focus on being more systematic and scientific. Although historical studies and case studies are helpful for understanding specific presidents, they are not necessarily helpful for understanding the institution of the presidency in general. I think future research should focus on an institutional approach that also considers personal characteristics representing important aspects of presidential power.

    Read More

  • The New Deal Reforms

    1052 Words  | 3 Pages

    A change in strategy leads to new perspective over certain matters. During FDR’s tenure many new reforms were adopted as part of the New Deal. Some o...

    Read More

  • Presidential Power: The Power Of The American President

    1544 Words  | 4 Pages

    Howell’s theory of unilateral action describes a more isolated president. But this does not mean that his insistence on unilateral presidential action is not valid or does not provide us with a valuable model for analyzing presidential power. Howell is certainly right in pointing that Congressional oversight is made more difficult by the multiplication of the unilateral tools the President can use to alter policies. The criticism stems from the fact that his book’s title seems to give the impression that his theory comes as an irreconcilable alternative to Neustadt’s version of presidential power of “persuasiveness”. Alternatively, Neustadt’s theory suffers from an institutional level analysis. Skrownek (1991) in his book, “The Politics Presidents Make: Leadership from John Adams to Bill Clinton” have suggested that there are clear patterns of contextual circumstances that may explain the variation in presidential leadership. While not denying a role of personal attributes he clearly demonstrated that personal contributions of presidents cannot be truly understood without an appreciation of the institutional contexts in which they operate (Skrownek

    Read More

  • Abraham Lincoln: The Worst President

    762 Words  | 2 Pages

    When it comes to United States Presidents, everyone has an opinion of each president’s effectiveness. It takes character and talent to hold up to the stress of the White House. One aspect of a leader that measures their effectiveness is their capability to handle a crisis; another is their ability to make decisions for the betterment of whomever they lead, while still taking in all opinions. One example of an extremely effective president that successfully used those qualities was Abraham Lincoln.

    Read More

  • Presidential Power: The Power of Persuasion

    1923 Words  | 4 Pages

    The approach focused on in this analysis will be the Neustadtian approach; a theory presented in Neustadt’s seminal work entitled Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents. Also up for analysis is an article by Matthew Kerbel, a follower of the Neustadtian approach who provides empirical analysis that substantiates Neustadt’s work.

    Read More

More about Presidential Power

Open Document