Managing the President's Message

Managing the President's Message PDF

Author: Martha Joynt Kumar

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2010-04-15

Total Pages: 381

ISBN-13: 0801899524

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Winner, 2008 Richard E. Neustadt Award, Presidency Research Group organized section of the American Political Science Association Political scientists are rarely able to study presidents from inside the White House while presidents are governing, campaigning, and delivering thousands of speeches. It’s even rarer to find one who manages to get officials such as political adviser Karl Rove or presidential counselor Dan Bartlett to discuss their strategies while those strategies are under construction. But that is exactly what Martha Joynt Kumar pulls off in her fascinating new book, which draws on her first-hand reporting, interviewing, and original scholarship to produce analyses of the media and communications operations of the past four administrations, including chapters on George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Kumar describes how today’s White House communications and media operations can be at once in flux and remarkably stable over time. She describes how the presidential Press Office that was once manned by a single presidential advisor evolved into a multilayered communications machine that employs hundreds of people, what modern presidents seek to accomplish through their operations, and how presidents measure what they get for their considerable efforts. Laced throughout with in-depth statistics, historical insights, and you-are-there interviews with key White House staffers and journalists, this indispensable and comprehensive dissection of presidential communications operations will be key reading for scholars of the White House researching the presidency, political communications, journalism, and any other discipline where how and when one speaks is at least as important as what one says.

Presidential Communication and Character

Presidential Communication and Character PDF

Author: Stephen J. Farnsworth

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-03-09

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 1315447029

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This book traces the evolution of White House news management during America’s changing media environment over the past two decades. Comparing and contrasting the communication strategies of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump, it demonstrates the difficulty that all presidents have in controlling their messages despite a seemingly endless array of new media outlets and the great advantages of the office. That difficulty is compounded by new media’s amplification of presidential character traits for good or ill. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube notwithstanding, presidential power still resides in the "power to persuade," and that task remains a steep challenge. More than ever, presidential character matters, and the media presidents now employ report on the messenger as much as the message. The book also looks at the media strategies of candidates during the 2016 presidential campaign, puts presidential media use in global context, and covers the early phase of the Trump administration, the first true Twitter presidency.

New Directions in the American Presidency

New Directions in the American Presidency PDF

Author: Lori Cox Han

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-10-06

Total Pages: 298

ISBN-13: 1351731009

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Especially coming out of the landmark presidential elections of 2008 and 2016, the study of the American presidency--both as a political institution and of those who have held the office--is one of the most fascinating and dynamic fields of study within American government. New Directions in the American Presidency takes a current look at the various issues facing the contemporary presidency and provides a "state of the art" overview of current trends in the field of presidency research. This volume of original chapters by leading presidential scholars is designed to include all the essential topics covered in an undergraduate-level presidency course or a graduate-level seminar while also bringing together key disciplinary debates and treatment of important current real-world developments. Each chapter is written with students in mind so that it remains accessible, interesting, and engaging. New to the Second Edition New key chapters on presidents and political parties and presidential leadership (essential following the 2016 presidential election). A fresh approach to the President and the Constitution, and the President and domestic policymaking, are provided by new authors for these foundational chapters. All chapters have been revised with updates coming out the 2016 election, especially in relation to presidential campaign politics, media, and the Supreme Court.

Before the Oath

Before the Oath PDF

Author: Martha Joynt Kumar

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2015-06-30

Total Pages: 331

ISBN-13: 142141659X

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"Having watched from a front row seat as many incumbent and electoral campaign presidential teams managed administration transitions, Martha Kumar was struck by how productively the Bush and Obama teams worked together to effect a smooth transition of power in 2008. She has reflected upon what made the transition so effective, and wonders if it could be a model for future incoming and outgoing administrations. This book focuses on the preparations made by President Bush's transition team as well as those by Senators Obama and McCain as one administration exited and the other entered the White House. Using this recent transition as a lens through which to examine the presidential transition process, Kumar simultaneously outlines the congressional legislation that paved the way for this distinctive transition and interweaves comparative examples from previous administrative transitions going back to Truman-to-Eisenhower. She evaluates the early and continuing actions by the General Services Administration to plan and set up transition offices; the work on financial disclosure issues handled by the Office of Government Ethics; and the Office of Management and Budget's preparatory work. In this fascinating historical and contemporary vivisection of presidential transitions, Kumar maps out, in the words of former NSA advisor General James L. Jones, the characteristics of a smooth "glide path" for presidential campaign staffs and their administrations"--

Our Damaged Democracy

Our Damaged Democracy PDF

Author: Joseph A. Califano

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2018-02-13

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 1501144634

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“A Washington insider draws on decades of experience to deliver a blistering critique of the state of American government” (Kirkus Reviews) in an authoritative scrutiny of the forces that run our society and a call to fix our democracy before it’s too late. If you’ve been watching the news and worrying that our democracy no longer works, this book, “a cri de coeur from one of our wisest Americans” (Michael Beschloss, Presidential Historian), will help you understand why you’re right. There is colossal concentration of power in the Presidency. Congress is crippled by partisanship and hostage to special interest money. The Supreme Court and many lower federal courts are riven by politics. Add politically fractured and fragile media, feckless campaign finance laws, rampant income and education inequality, and multicultural divisions, and it’s no wonder our leaders can’t agree on anything or muster a solid majority of Americans behind them. With decades at the top in government, law, and business, Joseph A. Califano, Jr. has the capacity to be party-neutral in his evaluation and the perspective to see the big picture of our democracy. Using revealing anecdotes featuring every modern president and actions of both parties, he makes the urgent case that while we do not need to agree on all aspects of politics, we do need to trust each other and be worthy of that trust. He shows how, as engaged citizens, we can bring back systems of government that promote fairness and protect our freedom. “It’s hard to argue with [Califano’s] analysis” (The New York Times Book Review) that the longer we wait to fix these problems, the more dangerous our situation will become.

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