"The American Presidency"

Paper Summary:

The paper looks at Forest McDonald's book, "The American Presidency", and how it addresses the shift in the conception of the American presidency from weak to quasi-monarchial as well as how the shift occurred. Additionally, the paper discusses NcDonald's philosophical methodology and explains why McDonald calls Reagan the greatest president since Jefferson. The paper concludes that the ultimate message of McDonald is that Congress and the populace should step aside and let those who know 'best' govern.

From the Paper:

"According to historian and scholar Forest McDonald, The American Presidency was and is a unique institution. Although other nations have since developed elected executives called presidents, the American presidency has evolved along its own special course, because of the birth of America as a new nation without a long-standing tradition of previous history, monarchy or common law. Some of the Founding Fathers, particularly James Madison, were initially reluctant to invest the new executive office with much power, for fear of creating a new king. Madison, for example, wished to prohibit unilateral executive action in foreign affairs (238). This would, according to McDonald, have made it impossible for the United States to engage effectively as a nation on the world stage, although of course it would also have limited some of the military actions not officially declared 'wars' by Congress as well."

Sample of Sources Used:

• McDonald, Forest. The American Presidency. Lawrence, University of Kansas Press, 1994.

More papers on "The American Presidency":

• Book Review # 110808 : "The American Presidency: An Intellectual History"
• Book Review # 115010 : "The American Presidency"
• Comparison Essay # 57371 : "The American Presidency"

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