The Power of the American Presidency: 1789-2000
"A fascinating account of all the presidents, copiously illustrated and documented, with an arresting set of conclusions about the past, present, and future of the presidency."--James MacGregor Burns,Academy of Leadership"Most students enter college courses on the presidency with a limited grasp of the institution's origins and evolution. Michael Genovese provides them with the essential information on presidential history while stimulating them to ponder the question of how the presidency has fit into American democracy. The bright spots and blemishes of presidential history, the Lincolns and the Hardings, are all here, vividly evoked in Genovese's fast-paced and colorful narrative."--Bruce Miroff,State University of New York, Albany"Michael Genovese's The Power of the American Presidency is a pungently written and balanced overview of the development of the American presidency over the past two centuries. Genovese puts into perspective the shifting constitutional balance as well as the idiosyncratic personalities of all forty-two of our presidents. If you want a bird's eye view of the presidency, this is your book.  The perfect antidote for students who "don't know much about history."--James P. Pfiffner,George Mason University