POLS 4033 American Foreign Policy

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POLS 4033American Foreign Policy

• Chapter 4/ Presentation III
• Presidential Power and Leadership

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Key Issues

• Patterns in Foreign Policy Leadership and
  Governance
• Post-Cold War Opportunities and Risks

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1) Patterns of Foreign Policy Leadership and
Governance

• Pattern of previous dominance (1940-1964) has
  yielded to patterns of presidential struggle

Sisyphus by Titian (1549)
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1a) The Roosevelt Presidency

• What factors contributed to FDRs tremendous
  success as a leader?
• To what extent did circumstances aid Roosevelt?

FDR at the wheel of his specially-outfitted car.
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1b) The Cold War Years

• Widespread public perceptions of existential
  threat
• The Washington Consensus favoring containment
• Truman, Eisenhower Kennedy given a long leash

Photo of the Trinity Test in New Mexico on July
16, 1945
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1c) The Transition Years

• The paradox of the Johnson presidency
• What forces brought Johnson to the pinnacle of
  power, and led to his rapid fall from grace?
• How did Vietnam affect his legacy?

Lyndon Johnson displaying his appendectomy scar
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1d) The Post-Vietnam War Years

• What factors brought Nixon to power?
• What contributed to Nixons resignation?
• Did Nixon deserve his fate (See Essay 4.2)

Nixon with The King
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1diii) The Ford Presidency

• Ford and the Nixon Taint
• Fords low levels of professional reputation and
  prestige
• A bad time to be a Republican

Was this Time cover title ironic, or what?
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1div) The Carter Presidency

• Carters commitment to honesty
• Carters commitment to being an outsider
• A recipe for ineffectiveness?

Has Carter been a better ex-president?
Jimmy Carter campaign poster
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1dv) The Reagan Presidency

• Reagan as the antidote to Carters malaise
• Resurgent Cold War aggressiveness
• Management style gave wide latitude to
  subordinates, leading to Iran-Contra

Reagan enjoyed high levels of both public
prestige and professional reputation. Why?
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2) Post-Cold War Opportunities and Risks

• What is the post-cold war presidency
  hypothesis?
• Has the end of the cold war made it more or less
  easy for presidents to govern?
• Destler, Lake, and Gelb The making of American
  foreign policy has been growing far more
  political or more precisely, far more partisan
  and ideological

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2a) The Bush, Sr. Presidency

• Bush, Sr.s impeccable foreign policy resume
• Bush, Sr.s emphasis on caution and prudence in
  foreign policy
• Gulf War I from popularity to electoral defeat

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2b) The Clinton Presidency

• The No Honeymoon presidency
• Clintons early problems, later successes
• A natural born politician

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2c) The Bush, Jr. Presidency

• The antithesis of his father
• Compassionate conservatism
• 9/11 and the rise of the war presidency
• The competence issue

G.W. Bush following another encounter with the
gravel roadside outside Crawford, TX