Includes bibliographical references (pages 244-280) and index.
Contents:
Preface to the original edition -- Preface to the 1980 edition -- Part One: The original text: -- Leader of clerk? -- Three cases of command -- The power to persuade -- Professional reputation -- Public prestige -- Two matters of choice -- Men in office -- The sixties come next -- Part Two: Later reflections: -- Appraising a president -- Reappraising power -- Hazards of transition.
Summary:
"In writing this book twenty years ago, I sought to characterize the power of a modern American President. I addressed, not the office but rather the person as one among many in an institution. "Power" I defined as personal influence on governmental action. This I distinguished sharply--a novel distinction then--from formal powers vested in the Presidency. In considering Dwight D. Eisenhower and Harry S. Truman, with Franklin D. Roosevelt in their immediate background, I found that sort of influence to be a risky thing, hard to consolidate, easy to dissipate, rarely assured. Presidential weakness was the underlying theme of Presidential Power. This remains my theme. It runs through the eight original chapters, here reprinted, and through three new ones that are meant to supplement, bring up to date, revise, and reconsider, as befits a new edition"--Page xi
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.