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Presidents face numerous challenges as they endeavor to meet expectations of leadership beyond given powers. “Connecting to and leading the government” shows how the presidency manages the many organizations and expenditures of government, a task that has grown in size, complexity, and intensity over time. To whom or what must presidents connect? The many cabinet departments and major agencies are described along with the roles of the inner circle—key advisers and assistants, the vice president, and the first spouse. The federal government is intricately connected to governance in the fifty states and thousands of localities. The challenge for presidents is to take advantage of bureaucratic experience in formulating and promoting their programs. ...Less

‘The presidency’ explores how presidents communicate with the American public. Presidential activity such as engaging in townhall style meetings, weekly radio addresses or webcasts, or talking to the country via prime-time speeches did not come from the rise of new communications technology but rather from a philosophy of democratic leadership, which over time has strongly shaped the way presidents incorporate communication into the office. But with today's 24/7 news shows, dozens of channels, and the rise of online communication, presidents now can hardly connect as dramatically, easily, and unilaterally as they once did. They must work much harder than they once did in order to get their explanations across. ...Less

In the late 1950s, the Cold War entered perhaps its most perilous phase, with the danger of nuclear war at its most intense. ‘From confrontation to détente, 1958–68’ charts the course of the Cold War through this period and the ensuing thaw in international relations. Tensions peaked during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, in which Russia and the USA came to the very brink of war. After this brush with nuclear annihilation, both countries took a more measured diplomatic strategy — the first relaxation of tension since 1945. However, the USA soon became involved in a more direct conflict, this time in Vietnam. ...Less

The presidency is regarded by many to be the most powerful branch in the separated system. Of the three branches, Congress is most prone to propose reforms as it competes with the presidency for a share of power. “Reform, change, and prospects for the future” asks what the difference between reform and change is and relates the two in terms to the American presidency throughout history. What reforms to the American presidency have been successful? What are the lessons and effects of statutory reform? The future of the presidency is heavily influenced by its past and present. Effective presidential power in a separated system is that exercised in recognition of the legitimate functions of the other branches. ...Less

History doesn't end, it just continues. Each era seems to be the one of the most significant change. The end of the 1960s led to an era of disorientation in the United States. ‘To the present’ looks at the decades following the turmoil and reform of the 1960s, a period which so far has seen presidential resignation, presidential impeachment, a terrorist attack, contentious foreign wars, and cycles of rancorous politics and economic recessions. It has been a time of anxiety about global climate change and the economic and social future of the nation. How can we summarize America's legacy to date and what lies in the future? ...Less

America in the immediate postwar period was a peculiar mix of material abundance and mass-culture distractions. Under the safety net of 1950s America, anti-communist paranoia and disquiet about racism was festering. ‘1945–1968: Affluence and social unrest‘ looks at the turbulent years which followed World War II in American life. By the 1960s, activist aspirations produced a surge in reform legislation, civil rights protests and anti-war demonstrations. In 1968, the response to this was a sharp conservative shift in life and culture. The 1960s was a decade of much turmoil and violence but it was also a decade of progressive reform and blows against racism. ...Less