The American Presidency - Softcover

Laski, Harold J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0878558217 ISBN 13: 9780878558216

Publisher: Routledge, 1980

Synopsis

With its call for new, revitalized presidential leadership, The American Presidency is as relevant and timely today as when it first appeared in 1940 as a Book-of-the-Month Club selection.  In addition to providing innovative ideas about the American presidency, Laski's book examines such contemporary, critical issues as the deadlock between the president and Congress, the crucial need for a coherent presidential direction of foreign policy, the relative unimportance of the presidnet's cabinet, and the weaknesses of America's pwer system in dealing with special interest groups.

About this title

Review:

-A lucid, reasonable, and humane study-a classic in a field which boasts few classics, and one of that line of extraordinary analyses of our political life (I think at once of Bryce, de Tocqueville, a AndrE Siegfried) contributed by Europeans.- -Clifton Fadiman, New Yorker -A scholarly analysis and interpretation of the supreme political office in the United States by an Englishman privileged to observe its working from near at hand and with the benefit of criticism of American friends. A penetrating study and a keen estimate of the presidency, indicating the traditions, conventions, and laws in their relationship to the cabinet and the Congress, and particularly to the people themselves.- -Library Journal -It is one of the best books ever written about the institutions of another country by a foreign observer. It combines to a very unusual degree detached observations with inside knowledge. Mr. Laski's knowledge of the literature of American thought and institutions is profound. His grasp of the working of the presidency is only possible to one who knows the inside of the White House and has been the close friend of several of the most famous members of the Supreme Court.- -Kingsley Martin, New Statesman & Nation -Professor Laski has carried through his purpose with admirable knowledge and insight and with the incisive brilliance of expression for which he is so justly famous. Despite his long association and great familiarity with the United States and with American political life, Professor Laski is ever aware that he views with English eyes an office which is the particular product of American forces, shaped by American history, and peculiarly responsive to American needs.- -J.P. Clark, Survey Graphic "A lucid, reasonable, and humane study-a classic in a field which boasts few classics, and one of that line of extraordinary analyses of our political life (I think at once of Bryce, de Tocqueville, a AndrE Siegfried) contributed by Europeans." -Clifton Fadiman, New Yorker "A scholarly analysis and interpretation of the supreme political office in the United States by an Englishman privileged to observe its working from near at hand and with the benefit of criticism of American friends. A penetrating study and a keen estimate of the presidency, indicating the traditions, conventions, and laws in their relationship to the cabinet and the Congress, and particularly to the people themselves." -Library Journal "It is one of the best books ever written about the institutions of another country by a foreign observer. It combines to a very unusual degree detached observations with inside knowledge. Mr. Laski's knowledge of the literature of American thought and institutions is profound. His grasp of the working of the presidency is only possible to one who knows the inside of the White House and has been the close friend of several of the most famous members of the Supreme Court." -Kingsley Martin, New Statesman & Nation "Professor Laski has carried through his purpose with admirable knowledge and insight and with the incisive brilliance of expression for which he is so justly famous. Despite his long association and great familiarity with the United States and with American political life, Professor Laski is ever aware that he views with English eyes an office which is the particular product of American forces, shaped by American history, and peculiarly responsive to American needs." -J.P. Clark, Survey Graphic "A lucid, reasonable, and humane study-a classic in a field which boasts few classics, and one of that line of extraordinary analyses of our political life (I think at once of Bryce, de Tocqueville, a AndrE Siegfried) contributed by Europeans." -Clifton Fadiman, New Yorker "A scholarly analysis and interpretation of the supreme political office in the United States by an Englishman privileged to observe its working from near at hand and with the benefit of criticism of American friends. A penetrating study and a keen estimate of the presidency, indicating the traditions, conventions, and laws in their relationship to the cabinet and the Congress, and particularly to the people themselves." -Library Journal "It is one of the best books ever written about the institutions of another country by a foreign observer. It combines to a very unusual degree detached observations with inside knowledge. Mr. Laski's knowledge of the literature of American thought and institutions is profound. His grasp of the working of the presidency is only possible to one who knows the inside of the White House and has been the close friend of several of the most famous members of the Supreme Court." -Kingsley Martin, New Statesman & Nation "Professor Laski has carried through his purpose with admirable knowledge and insight and with the incisive brilliance of expression for which he is so justly famous. Despite his long association and great familiarity with the United States and with American political life, Professor Laski is ever aware that he views with English eyes an office which is the particular product of American forces, shaped by American history, and peculiarly responsive to American needs." -J.P. Clark, Survey Graphic "A lucid, reasonable, and humane study-a classic in a field which boasts few classics, and one of that line of extraordinary analyses of our political life (I think at once of Bryce, de Tocqueville, a Andre Siegfried) contributed by Europeans." -Clifton Fadiman, New Yorker "A scholarly analysis and interpretation of the supreme political office in the United States by an Englishman privileged to observe its working from near at hand and with the benefit of criticism of American friends. A penetrating study and a keen estimate of the presidency, indicating the traditions, conventions, and laws in their relationship to the cabinet and the Congress, and particularly to the people themselves." -Library Journal "It is one of the best books ever written about the institutions of another country by a foreign observer. It combines to a very unusual degree detached observations with inside knowledge. Mr. Laski's knowledge of the literature of American thought and institutions is profound. His grasp of the working of the presidency is only possible to one who knows the inside of the White House and has been the close friend of several of the most famous members of the Supreme Court." -Kingsley Martin, New Statesman & Nation "Professor Laski has carried through his purpose with admirable knowledge and insight and with the incisive brilliance of expression for which he is so justly famous. Despite his long association and great familiarity with the United States and with American political life, Professor Laski is ever aware that he views with English eyes an office which is the particular product of American forces, shaped by American history, and peculiarly responsive to American needs." -J.P. Clark, Survey Graphic

About the Author:

Harold J. Laski (1893-1950) was an esteemed British political scientist, economist, author, and lecturer. He taught at McGill and Harvard Universities. From 1926 until his death he was professor of political science at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His works includeKarl Marx, Democracy in Crisis, The American Presidency, and The Rise of European Liberalism.

About this edition

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 1980
• ISBN 10: 0878558217
• ISBN 13: 9780878558216
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 278