The Glory and the Burden

The American Presidency from FDR to Trump

Robert Schmuhl

• Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9780268106768
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Political Biographies
• Index: Politics & International Relations

The Glory and the Burden: The American Presidency from FDR to Trump is a timely examination of the state of the American presidency and the forces that have shaped it over the past seventy-five years, with an emphasis on the dramatic changes that have taken place within the institution and to the individuals occupying the Oval Office.

In this fascinating book, Robert Schmuhl traces the evolution of the modern presidency back to the terms of Franklin Roosevelt, maintaining that FDR's White House years had a profound impact on the office, resulting in significant changes to the job and to those who have performed it since. Specifically, the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, limiting a president to two terms, has largely redefined each administration's agenda. News sources and social media have also grown exponentially, exercising influence over the conduct of presidents and affecting the consequences of their behavior.

Schmuhl examines the presidency as an institution and the presidents as individuals from several different perspectives. He identifies recent trends in the office and probes the relationship between the White House and various forms of contemporary media. This book is an engrossing read for a general audience, particularly those with an interest in politics, American history, journalism, and communications.

INDEX

ABC, 53, 61, 69, 105, 106, 118, 119, 135, 157, 167

Abramowitz, Alan, 51

Abrams v. United States (1919),
73

ACA (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; 2010), xv, 11–12, 38–39, 41, 55, 157

Adams, Henry, The Education of Henry Adams, xi

Adams, John, 25–26, 28, 42, 93

Adams, John Quincy, 25–26, 28, 93, 96

Adams, Sherman, 88, 145

Afghanistan War, 35

ages and health of presidents, 5, 13–14, 19, 26, 31, 85, 89, 92–93

Agnew, Spiro, 24, 149

Albert, Carl, 24

amendment of Constitution (Article V), 86. See also specific amendments

American Independent Party, 148

American presidency

chronology of (1947–2018), 144–59

development of author’s interest in, ix–xiv, 165–66

evaluation of candidates for, 141–43

first-time aspirants winning election to, 5, 10–11

former vice-presidents serving one- or two-term presidencies, 22

“glorious burden” and “splendid misery” of, xvi, 27–29, 139

“impossibility” of, 138–41, 143

incumbent presidents winning/losing second elections, 87, 153

moving directly from Congress to, 157

noncontinuous terms, 21, 93

patterns and trends in, xiv–xviii

popular vote versus Electoral College, 155, 158

sitting vice-presidents immediately succeeding to presidency, xiii, 20, 153

staff, presidential, 29–30

succession and disability provisions (Twenty-Fifth Amendment), 23–24, 94, 147

term limits on (Twenty-Second Amendment), 3–5, 11–14, 23, 32–33, 84–93, 139, 144, 145

three consecutive two-term presidents, incidences of, xiii, 24–25, 157–58

White House as symbol of,
xvi–xvii

See also change, voter proclivity for; generational patterns; media; partisanship and polarization; power; reform proposals; specific presidents

“The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden” (exhibition), xvi

American Presidency Project, 98

American Scholar, 124

The Apprentice/Celebrity Apprentice (TV show), 106–8

approval ratings, 13, 19, 27, 35–37, 45, 56, 88, 89t, 152, 153, 156, 157

Arnold, Matthew, 97

Aron, Raymond, 114–15

Article V (on amendment of Constitution), 86

assassinations/assassination attempts, xvi, 6, 19–21, 23–24, 27, 36, 78, 85, 140, 146, 147, 148, 151

Atlantic, 123, 138

“Atoms for Peace” proposal, 145

Baker, James A., 75–76

base, appealing to, 49–50, 53, 58

Bayh, Birch, 94

Beck, Glenn, 75

Begin, Menachem, 150

Berlin Wall, 146, 153

Between Two Ferns (TV show), 64

Boehner, John, 57, 58

Booker, Cory, 52

Booth, John Wilkes, 21

border wall, 132–33

Bork, Robert, 42–44, 46, 152–53

branding, 70, 119

Brennan, John, 125

Brinkley, David, 75

Brokaw, Tom, 20–21, 91

No Time to Think, 60

Brownstein, Ronald, The Second Civil War, 46

Buchanan, James, xvi, 29

Budget and Impoundment Control Act (1974), 34

Burns, James MacGregor, 3–4

Bush, George H. W.

change, voter proclivity for, 2, 8, 10, 11

in chronology of American presidency, 153

Bill Clinton and, 97

generational trends in presidency and, 19, 20

midterm elections under, 87, 156

news conferences under, 98

Reagan and, xiii

as single-term president, 87

Trump and, 107, 125

as Washington insider, xiv, 8

Bush, George W.

change, voter proclivity for, 2, 5, 8, 10, 11, 13

in chronology of American presidency, 155–57

generational trends in presidency and, 20, 24–27, 35–36

on Iraqi WMDs, 126

in lame duck period, 87

media and, 64

news conferences under, 98

partisanship and polarization, increase in, 53

popular vote lost by, 93

staff, size of, 30

term limits and, 87, 91

Bush, Jeb, 70

BuzzFeed, 65

Camp David Accords, 150

campaign spending, 66

Capen, Nahum, xvi

Caro, Robert, The Years of Lyndon Johnson, 140–41

Carter, Jimmy

change, voter proclivity for, 2, 5, 7–8, 10, 11

in chronology of American presidency, 150–51

Ford and, 97

generational trends in presidency and, 19, 20, 24

news conferences under, 98

nominating...

Table of contents

• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Prologue
• ONE Consequences of Change
• TWO Perils of Power
• THREE Paralysis of Polarization
• FOUR Conundrums of Communications
• FIVE Reveries of Reform
• SIX Presidency in Progress
• Epilogue
• A Chronology of the Modern American Presidency
• For Further Reading
• Acknowledgments
• Index