Introduction -- The founding presidency (1789-1829) -- The partisan presidency (1829-1865) -- The eclipsed presidency (1865-1897) -- The modern presidency (1897-1945) -- The Cold War presidency (1945-1993) -- The post-modern presidency? (1993- )
Summary
According to Niccolo Machiavelli, leaders must always be prepared for unexpected change, sometimes rapidly and in violent and dramatic forms, in order to retain control of their fate. Philip Abbott applies this insight to U.S. presidents. He identifies six major periods of change in the political economic and international sphere and examines how presidents from Washington to Obama responded to new challenges. How presidents are elected, how they are expected to govern, how the economy functions, and what place the nation holds in the international system create general rules that presidents
