The Opposition Presidency: Leadership and the Constraints of History

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Texas A&M University Press, 2002 - 286 sivua
When a president’s governing philosophy is out of step with the dominant ideology of the culture, his options for leadership are much different FROM those of a leader more in sync with the times. Such opposition leaders face distinctive challenges and opportunities for effectiveness. They should be judged by different standards, argues political scientist David Crockett.

Crockett has analyzed presidents from Whig times through the Clinton presidency to develop a model for understanding presidential success and the strategies that are appropriate to the circumstances. Focusing on the terms of TWELVE opposition presidents, Crockett details the approaches they have taken to maximize their own goals and maintain political power. He illustrates vividly how these leaders must balance personal and partisan success and he lays out the relationship between personality or character and the larger political context.

All opposition presidents face roughly the same type of leadership situation governing in an era in which they do not control the power to define politics but Crockett’s broad historical perspective demonstrates that they do not all handle this situation in the same way. Studying the presidency in such a political context enables Crockett to break free of the one-size-fits-all model of presidential leadership. Leadership strategies are contingent and context-bound, and the wise president understands the constraints history places on his leadership. In the case of opposition presidents, history demonstrates that pursuing a path of moderation is far healthier than launching a frontal assault on the governing party. It is healthier for the president and his party and healthier for the political system as a whole.

Breaking free of the standard focus on post-World War II presidencies, this historically rich, analytically sophisticated, and extremely readable volume offers challenging understandings of presidential effectiveness. Students of American politics will join scholars of the presidency in welcoming its innovative and tightly argued perspectives.

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Sisältö

Introduction
3
Democratic Opposition and the Presidency
11
Opposition and Political Eras
13
The Context of Presidential Opposition
34
Across the Grain of History
55
The Whig Template
57
Andrew Johnson The Nightmare Scenario
76
Grover Cleveland A Tale of Two Presidencies
92
Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford The Politics of Counterinsurgency
151
Bill Clinton The Politics of Slickness
175
Contextual Leadership
201
Adapting to Context
203
Constrained Leadership
239
Notes
247
Bibliography
267
Index
277

Woodrow Wilson Progressive Opposition
109
Dwight Eisenhower The Return of Cincinnatus
130

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David Crockett, an assistant professor of political science at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. His dissertation, the basis for the present volume, won the prize for the Best Dissertation on the Presidency, awarded by the Center for Presidential Studies.

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