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GOVT 2302

GOVT 2302. The Personal Presidency The Contemporary Executive. In this section we discuss the “personal” presidency as well as some of the recently created executive agencies and controversies associated with them.

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GOVT 2302

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  1. GOVT 2302 The Personal PresidencyThe Contemporary Executive

  2. In this section we discuss the “personal” presidency as well as some of the recently created executive agencies and controversies associated with them.

  3. Note: For Spring 2011 the assessment will only cover questions about the personal presidency.

  4. More than any other governing institution, the presidency is a personal office. It is impacted by the personality of the individual who holds the office.

  5. Presidential success or failure often is determined by the disposition of the individual. In this final section on the executive we will first look into the nature of the personal presidency before digging into contemporary issues in the executive branch.

  6. We will look at four topics:Presidential Rankings Presidential Approval Presidential CharacterPresidential Decision-Making

  7. Presidential Rankings

  8. In recent decades, historians and others began ranking presidents, often evaluating past presidents on their performance in a variety of criteria.

  9. Some links: - Wikipedia: Historical ratings of Presidents.- C-Span: 2009 Survey of Presidential Leadership.- LATimes comment on C-Span survey.- HNN: Analysis of C-Span Survey.

  10. Rankings Presidents is always controversial and subject to accusations of bias.Historians are sometimes accused of preferring activist over passive presidents.

  11. Ranking recent presidents is often politicized, some degree of distance is necessary to properly evaluate presidencies.

  12. Example: in a 2005 Wall Street Journal Survey, self identified Democrats ranked George W. Bush the 6th worst president while Republicans ranked him the 6th best.

  13. Objective evaluations of Clinton, Reagan and other recent presidents are tinged with partisan animosity. Some perspective is necessary in order to properly evaluate presidents objectively.

  14. Rankings vary as historical context changes and as additional information about the inner workings of presidencies emerge.

  15. Example: Eisenhower was originally rated low by historians who thought he was out of touch as president. Once open records showed this was not the case, his assessment was increased.

  16. Past presidents have been divided into the Greats, Near Greats, Average, Below Average and Failures.This color graphic shows the presidents chronologically. It suggests a pattern in rankings.

  17. Who are the greats and the failures and why?

  18. The “Great” Presidents:George WashingtonAbraham LincolnFranklin RooseveltThese results are very consistent, these are almost always the top three, and Lincoln is almost always at the top of every list.

  19. Each is argued to have successfully faced a major crisis and faced it in a manner that united the nation. The Founding, The Civil War, The Great Depression and World War II.

  20. The Failures

  21. Franklin PierceJames BuchananAndrew JohnsonWarren Harding

  22. The first two served before the Civil War and did not nothing to address the division leading to war. Johnson is argued to have bungled reconstruction with divisive politics and ensured a slow healing of the wounds of the war.

  23. Harding’s Administration was simply corrupt.

  24. Note that according to C-Span’s survey, the two worst presidents flanked the best.

  25. How do you evaluate presidents?In C-Span’s 2009 survey, ten categories of leadership were selected.

  26. Public PersuasionCrisis LeadershipEconomic ManagementMoral AuthorityInternational RelationsAdministrative SkillsRelations with CongressVision/Setting An AgendaPursued Equal Justice For AllPerformance Within Context of Times

  27. Public Persuasion1 – Franklin Roosevelt 2 – Abraham Lincoln3 – Ronald Reagan40 – Franklin Pierce 41 - Andrew Johnson 42 – James Buchanan

  28. Crisis Leadership1 – Abraham Lincoln 2 – Franklin Roosevelt3 – George Washington40 – Andrew Johnson 41 - Franklin Pierce 42 – James Buchanan

  29. Economic Management1 – George Washington 2 – Abraham Lincoln3 – Bill Clinton40 – George W. Bush 41 – Herbert Hoover42 – James Buchanan

  30. Moral Authority1 – George Washington 2 – Abraham Lincoln3 – Franklin Roosevelt40 – Andrew Johnson41 – Richard Nixon42 – James Buchanan

  31. International Relations1 – George Washington 2 – Franklin Roosevelt3 – Abraham Lincoln40 – James Buchanan41 – George W. Bush42 – William Henry Harrison

  32. Administrative Skills1 – George Washington2 – Abraham Lincoln3 – Franklin Roosevelt40 – Warren G. Harding41 - Andrew Johnson 42 – William Henry Harrison

  33. Relations with Congress1 – Franklin Roosevelt 2- Lyndon Johnson3 – Abraham Lincoln 40 – John Tyler41 – James Buchanan42 – Andrew Johnson

  34. Vision/Setting An Agenda1 – Abraham Lincoln 2- Franklin Roosevelt 3 – George Washington 40 – Franklin Pierce41 – Andrew Johnson 42 – James Buchanan

  35. Pursued Equal Justice For All 1 – Abraham Lincoln 2- Lyndon Johnson3 – Harry Truman40 – Andrew Johnson41 - Franklin Pierce 42 – James Buchanan

  36. Performance Within Context of Times 1 – Abraham Lincoln2- George Washington3 – Franklin Roosevelt40 – Franklin Pierce41 – Andrew Johnson42 – James Buchanan

  37. Presidential Approval

  38. Since the development of modern polling, questions have been regularly asked about respondent’s attitudes about presidents. These question ask about attitudes about whether they like the person, or if they approve of the job they are doing. These are not the same.

  39. Job approval and favorability are different. One relates to perceptions about how the president is doing his job, the other whether people like him.

  40. Job Approval ratings can vary depending on specific policiesForeign PolicyEconomic PolicyHealth Care

  41. Approval ratings are important – often – since they are indications of a president’s strength. Congress is unlikely to check the power of a popular president. The courts, recall, have no need to defer to popular presidents.

  42. Presidents with high job approval ratings can “go public.” They can take a proposal directly to the public and use them as leverage against Congress.

  43. The Gallup Poll has been asking questions about presidential performance since the 1930s.

  44. For detailed numbers going back to Truman, including comparisons across presidents, visit the Gallup Presidential Job Approval Center.

  45. Here’s a great interactive graphic from the WSJ. It highlights key moments in presidencies.Wikipedia: Presidential Approval.

  46. Over the years three significant factors have been found to drive presidential approval numbers.

  47. 1 – The Honeymoon Effect. A president’s polls numbers tend to start high. The euphoria of the campaign is still present, there are high expectations, and the president has yet to do anything: nothing has had the time to go wrong.

  48. Most presidents suffer swift drops in approval once their term begins and they begin to make decisions that upset certain constituencies

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