Why Presidents Fail: White House Decision Making from Eisenhower to Bush II - Hardcover

Pious, Richard M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0742562840 ISBN 13: 9780742562844

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2008

Synopsis

Why Presidents Fail takes a fresh look at cases that became defining events in presidencies from Dwight D. Eisenhower through George W. Bush and uses these cases to draw generalizations about presidential power, authority, rationality, and legitimacy. Rather than assigning blame for past failures, this book focuses on why presidents fail and how future presidents might avoid making these same disastrous mistakes.

About this title

Review:

As Richard Pious traces the anatomy of presidential failures, he argues that, under conditions of high pressure and great uncertainty, presidents too often engage in "situational constitutionalism" and fail to distinguish between their personal stakes and the nation's best interests. His carefully reconstructed and detailed case studies do not present merely the conventional wisdom about some obvious presidential blunders, but include incisive analyses of the underlying dynamics of presidential failures that contain important lessons for future presidents and citizens alike.--James Pfiffner, School of Public Policy, George Mason University

His particular lens of anaylsis deepens our understanding of how presidents come to make failed policy choices.--Public Administration Review

Why Presidents Fail will engage students and educate us all. Filled with wisdom and innovative thinking, it is a volume everyone interested in the presidency will want to read.--Presidential Studies Quarterly

This well-written work, which includes extensive footnotes and resources for further study, is recommended for academic libraries.--Library Journal

Pious has researched each case in great detail, yielding much information that may be new to readers, and provides a thorough bibliography. Appropriate for high school and college study, this will also have great appeal for devotees of poli-sci and presidential history.--Publishers Weekly

Government executives, for their part, should be required to study this book closely and incorporate the lessons of executive failure. Highly recommended.--CHOICE

About the Author:

Richard M. Pious is Adolf S. and Effie E. Ochs Professor of American Studies in the political science department at Barnard College and the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.

About this edition

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0742562840
• ISBN 13: 9780742562844
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 330