With the largest popular vote majority in two decades, large gains in Congress, and entering office at a time of economic crisis and two wars, President Barack Obama was seemingly poised to become America's strongest and most influential president since Ronald Reagan. However, President Obama's first year in office has led to some notable surprises with a seemingly incremental approach-he has let Congress take the lead on his signature initiatives, expanding health care coverage and an economic stimulus, while continuing a trajectory begun by his predecessor in only gradually pulling out of Iraq and expanding as well as reforming the U.S. role in Afghanistan. What accounts for the political stability and change demonstrated by the Obama administration? Which factors shaping a presidency are structural, which are personal, and which are driven by events? How will decisions made in the first two years of the administration affect its future course? What lessons can we glean from past presidencies? This timely volume of notable thinkers on the presidency presents scholarly as well as applied insights on Obama's administration at the half-way point. Assessing the political context of his first two years, the inter-branch relations, and policy developments all provide the necessary grounding for students to make sense of the continuity and change that Barack Obama represents.

The book describes the impact of cultural perceptions on rulers' behaviors in the United Arab Emirates, once the Trucial States. Despite differences in size, economic resources, and external political pressures, the seven emirates' rulers utilized very similar cultural expectations to gain the support of others. The author describes what has generally been only touched upon before--the significant but largely "invisible" roles women and marriage play in the political process of tribal societies.

This second, revised edition presents a broader discussion of Schumpeter's and other leadership models of democracy and also includes a new chapter on presidential leadership and foreign policy. The first part of the book is centred around Schumpeter's theories and his emphasis upon the role of leadership in democracy. Such leadership normally involves only an adaptive, incremental response to change but it can also take the form of an adaptive innovation, a creative response, or a pioneering leader's entrepreneurial-style initiative and innovation. The second part of the book uses the US and British examples of democracy to assess how much entrepreneurial-style, pioneering leadership occurred during the 1960s-90s in democracies' electoral, governmental, legislative, administrative, and policy-advocacy sectors. The second edition's conclusion offers a new appraisal of the prospects for this pioneering leadership, and the merely adaptive form of innovative leadership, in the decades and crises that lie ahead.

Steve Leach identifies the key challenges facing chief executives in British local government in operating in an environment where party politics is a dominant force. It discusses the basis on which chief executives apply for posts and manage the interview process, and the importance of the 'honeymoon period' - the first 6-9 months.

Riding in an open-topped convertible through Dallas on November 22, 1963, Lyndon B. Johnson heard a sudden explosive sound at 12:30 PM. The Secret Service sped him away to safety, but not until 1:20 PM did he learn that John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. Sworn in next to a bloodstained Jackie Kennedy at 2:40 PM, Johnson worked feverishly until 3:00 in the morning, agonizing about the future of both his nation and his party. Unbeknownst to him, his actions had already determined the tragic outcome of his presidency.

In "November 22, 1963," historian Steven Gillon tells the story of how Johnson consolidated power in the twenty-four hours following the assassination. Based on scrupulous research and new archival sources, this gripping narrative sheds new and surprising light on one of the most written-about events of the twentieth century.

This is an account of how one Labour Party politician, after suffering the biggest setback of his political career, used the anti-Vietnam War demonstrations in Grosvenor Square, the battle over trade union reform and the troubles in Northern Ireland to propel himself to Number 10.

The first English-language biography of the de facto ruler of the late Ottoman Empire and architect of the Armenian Genocide Talaat Pasha (1874-1921) led the Young Turks' single-party regime in the Ottoman Empire during World War I and is arguably a founding father of modern Turkey. He was also the architect of the Armenian Genocide, which set the stage for a century that would witness political terror and ethnic cleansing on a scale never imagined. Here is the first biography in English of the revolutionary figure who not only prepared the way for Ataturk and the founding of the republic in 1923, but who shaped the modern world as well. In this explosive book, Hans-Lukas Kieser provides a mesmerizing portrait of the shrewd and merciless politician who maintained power through a potent blend of Islamic-Turkish nationalism and a readiness to employ violent "solutions."

How the conflict between political Islamists and secular-leaning nationalists has shaped the modern Middle East In Making the Arab World, Fawaz Gerges, one of the world's leading authorities on the Middle East, describes how the clash between pan-Arab nationalism and pan-Islamism has shaped the history of the region from the 1920s to the present. He tells this story through an unprecedented dual biography of Egyptian president and Arab nationalist leader Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918-1970) and another of the twentieth-century Arab world's most influential figures-Sayyid Qutb (1906-1966), a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood and the father of many branches of radical political Islam. Based on a decade of research, including in-depth interviews with many leading figures in the story, Making the Arab World is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the roots of the turmoil engulfing the Middle East, from civil wars to Al-Qaeda and ISIS.

A new definitive volume of the retirement papers of Thomas Jefferson This volume's 627 documents feature a vast assortment of topics. Jefferson writes of his dread of "a doting old age." He inserts an anonymous note in the Richmond Enquirer denying that he has endorsed a candidate for the next presidential election, and he publishes two letters in that newspaper under his own name to refute a Federalist claim that he once benefited by overcharging the United States Treasury. Jefferson does not reply to unsolicited letters seeking his opinion on constitutional matters, judicial review, and a call for universal white male suffrage in Virginia. Fearing that it would set a dangerous precedent, he declines appointment as patron of a new society "for the civilisation of the Indians." Jefferson is also asked to comment on proposed improvements to stoves, lighthouses, telescopes, and navigable balloons. Citing his advanced age and stiffened wrist, he avoids detailed replies and allows his complaint to John Adams about the volume of incoming correspondence to be leaked to the press in hopes that strangers will stop deluging them both with letters. Jefferson approves of the growth of Unitarianism and predicts that "there is not a young man now living in the US. who will not die an Unitarian."

Using leadership to generate greater innovation, connectivity, and organizational transformation is crucial for success in this challenging era. The authors present here a new approach to leadership based on findings from complexity science. Integrating real case studies with rigorous research results, they explore the biggest challenges being faced in fast-paced organizations, and provide a host of concrete tools for leading during critical periods, catalyzing novelty, expanding networks, and generating transformative change throughout an organization.

Having lost an election, been thrown out by their party, or retired on grounds of ill-health, what do former British prime ministers do? In the first book to look at the lives, political roles and influence of former prime ministers, Kevin Theakston offers a comprehensive analysis of all the former prime ministers from Robert Walpole in the 18th century to Tony Blair today. This lively and informative book will appeal to those interested in British history as well as in contemporary politics. "You are very ex as an ex-prime minister," it has been said. "The telephone goes and immediately you think, Oh goodness me, the United Nations is sitting," Margaret Thatcher admitted. "Then you realize that it's no longer you any more." Some former prime ministers fade into the background, but others have continued to play a significant role in politics - sometimes constructively, but sometimes quite the reverse. Some enhance their reputations after they leave Number 10, but others damaged their reputations badly. This book sheds new light on the people who have held the highest office in British government.

Abdi Ismail Samatar provides a clear and foundational history of Somalia at the dawn of the country's independence when Africa's first democrats appeared. While many African countries were dominated by authoritarian rulers when they entered the postcolonial era-and scholars have assumed this as a standard feature of political leadership on the continent-Somalia had an authentic democratic leadership. Samatar's political biography of Aden A. Osman and Abdirazak H. Hussen breaks the stereotype of brutal African tyranny. Samatar discusses the framing of democracy in Somalia following the years of control by fascist Italy, the formation of democratic organizations during the political struggle, and the establishment of democratic foundations in the new nation. Even though this early state of affairs did not last, these leaders left behind a strong democratic legacy that may provide a model of good governance for the rest of the continent.

Gaffney analyzes how de Gaulle came to power in 1958: The drama surrounding the Fourth Republic's collapse, and the focus upon an exceptional individual meant that de Gaulle was able to confer a particular style of leadership on the Fifth Republic. The five Presidents who came after him have each capitalized on their own political 'persona.'

Gaffney analyzes how de Gaulle came to power in 1958: The drama surrounding the Fourth Republic's collapse, and the focus upon an exceptional individual meant that de Gaulle was able to confer a particular style of leadership on the Fifth Republic. The five Presidents who came after him have each capitalized on their own political 'persona.'

Political leaders need ministers to help them rule and so conventional wisdom suggests that leaders appoint competent ministers to their cabinet. This book shows this is not necessarily the case. It examines the conditions that facilitate survival in ministerial office and how they are linked to ministerial competence, the political survival of heads of government and the nature of political institutions. Presenting a formal theory of political survival in the cabinet, it systematically analyses the tenure in office of more than 7,300 ministers of foreign affairs covering more than 180 countries spanning the years 1696-2004. In doing so, it sheds light not only on studies of ministerial change but also on diplomacy, the occurrence of war, and the democratic peace in international relations. This text will be of key interest to students of comparative executive government, comparative foreign policy, political elites, and more broadly to comparative politics, political economy, political history and international relations.

In this book, a stellar collection of contributors consider each British post-war Prime Minister and examine how they have dealt with Britains changing role, domestic and overseas, since the end of WWII. Even at the start of the 21st century, Britain remains in a state of transition, between a world which is dead and one still struggling to be born.

Love history? Know your stuff with History in an Hour. What made a failed Austrian artist into the most reviled and destructive personality of the twentieth century? Where did the seeds of his rabid anti-Semitism lie? How did a marginalized loner become such a moving force in Germany? How could a nation have fallen for such a fanatic? What made him so determined to bring about war? Through manipulation of politicians and civilians, bullying, diplomacy, violence and lies, Hitler achieved a total and unlikely power. Covering his early life, military service in World War One and eventual rise to power, first as the leader of the Nazi party, and then head of state, Hitler: History in an Hour describes the life of a man who spent his final days inside a bunker having plunged the world into a global conflict, the bloodiest in history. Love history? Know your stuff with History in an Hour...

Through this in-depth look at Abraham Lincoln, both before and during his presidency, we can learn through his leadership in times of confusion, war, and dissent. The set of chapters included in this volume are based on papers that constituted part of the 2008-2009 Jepson Leadership Forum at the Jepson School of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond. The chapters consider Lincoln's intellectual, moral, political, and military leadership. The authors include the world's foremost Lincoln scholars, including Pulitzer Prize winner Daniel Walker Howe, and Lincoln Prize winners Richard Carwardine and Douglas Wilson.

"Conservative Intellectuals and Richard Nixon" explores the relationship between postwar conservatives and the president from 1968 to 1974. Seemingly casting those years out of their history, conservatives have never fully explored how Richard Nixon affected their movement. They fail to realize the extent his presidency helped refocus their fight against liberalism and communism.""Mergel uses the Nixon years as a window into the Right's effort to turn ideology into successful politics. It""combines an assessment of Nixon's presidency through the eyes of conservative intellectuals with an attempt to understand what the Right gained from its experience with Nixon.

"Barack Obama and the African-American Empowerment" examines the evolution of black leadership and politics since the Civil Rights Movement. It looks at the phenomenon of Barack Obama, from his striking emergence as a successful candidate for the Illinois State Senate to President of the United States, as part of the continuum of African American political leaders. The reader also examines the evolving ideals about the roles of government and the economy in addressing the historic disadvantages experienced by many African Americans. Here, some of the nation's most influential intellectuals bring together original scholarship to look at the future of national politics and American race relations.

"Barack Obama and the African-American Empowerment" examines the evolution of black leadership and politics since the Civil Rights Movement. It looks at the phenomenon of Barack Obama, from his striking emergence as a successful candidate for the Illinois State Senate to President of the United States, as part of the continuum of African American political leaders. The reader also examines the evolving ideals about the roles of government and the economy in addressing the historic disadvantages experienced by many African Americans. Here, some of the nation's most influential intellectuals bring together original scholarship to look at the future of national politics and American race relations.

How do voters in Britain decide which party to vote for in elections? Have age and education replaced class as the social basis for voting? Are elections now 'presidentialised', with voters simply choosing between party leaders? What role do the media, new and old, play in all of this? The authors examine these and other questions in the fourth edition of this popular text. The core of the text is devoted to examining and explaining theories of party choice, including the debate about whether voters are driven more by issues and ideology or simply by which party and leader looks least likely to make a mess of things in office. The authors also devote separate chapters to turnout trends and patterns, the media, electoral systems, the geography of party support, and - new to this edition - referendums. Fully revised and with detailed analysis of the 2019 election and the electoral fallout of Brexit, the text incorporates the latest research on elections and voting behaviour, and includes analysis of recent trends and developments - such as the effect of digital media on electoral politics and where recent misfires leave the opinion polls.

The bestselling and prize-winning study of one of the most legendary American Presidents in history, Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin is the book that inspired Barack Obama in his presidency. When Barack Obama was asked which book he could not live without in the White House, his answer was instant: Team of Rivals. This monumental and brilliant work has given Obama the model for his presidency, showing how Abraham Lincoln saved America by appointing his fiercest rival to key cabinet positions. As well as a thrilling piece of narrative history, it's an inspiring study of one of the greatest leaders the world has ever seen. 'A wonderful book . . . a remarkable study in leadership' Barack Obama 'A portrait of Lincoln as a virtuosic politician and managerial genius' The New York Times 'I have not enjoyed a history book as much for years' Robert Harris Doris Kearns Goodwin is the doyenne of US presidential historians, and one of the most acclaimed non-fiction authors in the world. Her works include Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream, The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys: An American Saga, and No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, for which she won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1995.

The women in the family which ruled 13th-century Castile used maternity, familial and political strategy, and religious and cultural patronage to secure their personal power as well as to promote their lineage. Leonor of England, and her daughters Blanche of Castile (Queen of France), Urraca (Queen of Portugal), Costanza (a Cistercian nun of Las Huelgas) and Leonor, (Queen of Aragon) provide the context for a study focusing on Berenguela of Castile, Queen of Leon through marriage and of Castile by right of inheritance, whose most significant accomplishment was to enable the successful rule of her son Fernando.