Welcome to
The
American Presidency: Kennedy - Clinton
A Study of Power and Persuasion in the American Political Environment
What an exciting semester awaits you! While the study of our own government and the history of our people is always an exciting concept [and, hopefully, an exciting practice!], this course has been designed to fill in a gap that often occurs during a regular course in United States History. With a designed focus on the United States presidency since 1960, you will examine the evolution of presidential power while learning about the events of the last four decades and their impact on the people of this nation. This may be the first history/government course that you haven taken that will dissect events from your lifetime and then attempt to project the events of your near future! Whatever your background, hang on for a wild ride through some of the most turbulent times in United States history!
Why study the presidency?
When President Bush took the oath of office on January 20, 2001, he faced many daunting tasks. Perhaps the most difficult was living up to the expectations of the American people. Americans expect the chief executive to ensure peace, prosperity and security. As President Jimmy Carter remarked, "The President is . . . held to be responsible for the state of the economy . . . and for the inconveniences, or disappointments, or the concerns of the American people." Americans want a good life, and they look to the president to provide it.
Americans are of two minds about the presidency. On the one hand, they want to believe in a powerful president, one who can do good. They look back longingly on the great presidents of the first century - - George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln - - and some in the second century as well, especially Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman.
On the other hand, Americans dislike a concentration of power. Although presidential responsibilities have increased substantially in the past few decades, there has been no corresponding increase in presidential authority or administrative resources to meet these new expectations. Americans are basically individualistic and skeptical of authority. According to presidential scholar Samuel Huntington, "The distinctive aspect of the American Creed is its antigovernment character. Opposition to power, and suspicion of government as the most dangerous embodiment of power, are the central themes of American political thought." The American political culture's tenets of limited government, liberty, individualism, equality and democracy generate a distrust of strong leadership, authority and the public sector in general.
Who can become president?
Because Americans' expectations of the presidency are so high, it is doubly important who serves as president. Just who are the people who have occupied the Oval Office during the last forty years?
When Warren G. Harding, one of the least illustrious American presidents, was in office, attorney Clarence Darrow [the Scopes trial - - Inherit the Wind]remarked, "When I was a boy, I was told that anybody could become president. Now I'm beginning to believe it." The Constitution simply states that the president must be a natural-born citizen at least 35 years old and must have resided in the United States for at least fourteen years. In fact, all U. S. presidents have been white, male and [except for John F. Kennedy] Protestant. In other ways, however, the recent collection of president suggests considerable variety. Since World War II, the White House has been home to a Missouri haberdasher, a war hero, a Boston Irish politician, a small-town Texas boy who grew up to become the biggest wheeler-dealer in the Senate, a California lawyer described by his enemies as "Tricky Dick" and by his friends as a misunderstood master of national leadership, a former Rose Bowl player who had spent his entire political career in the House of Representatives, a former governor who had been a Georgia peanut wholesaler, an actor who also a former governor of California, a CIA chief and ambassador who was the son of a U. S. senator and an ambitious governor from a small southern state.
It's important to remember that no one is born to be the future president of the United States in the way that someone is born to be the future king or queen of England. Regardless of their background or character, all presidents must come to the job through one of two basic routes - - elections or succession. In this course, we see both methods manifested and we'll examine the results.
Fun times lie ahead!
