POLS 4033 American Foreign Policy

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POLS 4033American Foreign Policy

• Chapter 4/ Presentation II
• Presidential Power and Leadership

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Key Issues

• The Elements of Presidential Power cont.
• The Problem of Presidential Governance
• Patterns in Foreign Policy Leadership and
  Governance
• Post-Cold War Opportunities and Risks

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1) Uncertain Elements of Presidential Leadership

• How have the federal courts responded to aspects
  of Bushs war on terror?
• How has public opinion reacted to Bushs war on
  terror?
• How would you explain the cyclical pattern of the
  medias coverage of the presidency?
• Is the global context a random variable for
  presidents?

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1a) The Paradox of Presidential Power

• The president is rightly described as a man of
  extraordinary powers
• Yet it is also true that he must wield those
  powers under extraordinary limitations.

JFK (1917-1963)
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1b) What is Power?

• The ability to influence the surrounding
  environment in ways one prefers
• Positive vs. negative power

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1bi) Categorizing Presidential Power
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2a) The Problem of Presidential Governance Two
Important Patterns

• Why do presidents typically enjoy a honeymoon?
• When are presidents typically considered
  lame-ducks

Which of the pictures best characterizes George
W. Bushs current place in the presidential life
cycle?
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2ai) LBJ on Presidential Power

• Youve got to give it all you can, that first
  year
• You cant put anything through when half of
  Congress is thinking how to beat you

LBJ giving his friend Abe Fortas the Johnson
Treatment
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2b) American Politics and the Crisis of Governance

• Even when problems are growing in severity,
  presidents find themselves constrained by
  gridlock
• Its a demanding time to be the president

Prometheus Bound (Painting by Dirck van Baburen)
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2c) Presidential Power in Foreign Policy An
Overview

• Presidents have more prerogative powers in the
  foreign policy sphere
• Presidential powers reached their zenith during
  the Cold War
• The post-Vietnam Conflict era has weakened
  presidential powers
• The end of the Cold War intensified the erosion
  of presidential initiative

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2ci) Some Historical Context

• The Constitution as an invitation to struggle?
• The Imperial Presidency (1967)
• The cyclical nature of executive-legislative
  relations

Arthur M. Schlesinger (1917-2007)
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2cii) Presidential Supremacy During the Cold War

• Two presidencies thesis
• Conditions facilitating a strengthened
  presidency?
• Anti-communism as an accelerant of presidential
  power

Dwight Eisenhower (1890-1969), one of the Cold
War presidents
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2ciii) The Decline of Presidential Power Since
Vietnam and the Cold War

• The twin tragedies of Vietnam and Watergate
• The erosion of the Washington Consensus
• The end of the two presidencies era

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2d) The Importance of Presidential Leadership

• What is the key to presidential power, according
  to Neustadt?
• What factors complicate presidents ability to
  persuade?

Richard Neustadt (1919-2003) presidential
advisor, scholar, and historian. Founder of the
Harvards Kennedy School of Government
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2di) Three Crucial Elements of Leadership and
Power

• 1st Professional reputation
• Essential characteristics?
• 2nd Public prestige
• Essential characteristics?
• 3rd Presidential choices Skill in
• managing the executive branch
• building coalitions among insiders
• Symbolic communication

George W. Bush walking with Saudi crown prince
Adbullah. How important are perceptions to
successful presidential leadership?
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2dii) Richard Pious on Prerogative Government

• The American Presidency (1979)
• What does Pious mean by prerogative government?
• What are the political consequences of this
  method of leadership?

Richard Pious, Adolf S. and Effie E. Ochs
Professor of American Studies at Columbia
University
What is overshoot and collapse?