Tough Times for the President is a unique book because it provides a different perspective on America's most important office. Most books on the presidency focus on issues of presidential leadership, presidential greatness, or influence over policy, but none compares how presidents have responded to the political challenges confronting them.

The American presidency is the single most important political office in the United States, but it is also a complex institution that scholars and the general public still do not fully understand. The scholarly literature on the presidency is extensive, but many aspects of the office have received little--if any--attention and yet are relevant to White House politics. This edited collection takes readers into territory that has been heretofore unexplored or underexplored.

Is the president a representative of the public, and what does this mean? What are the powers of the president to make peace? How do presidents use their office to influence cultural issues? What signficance does the First Lady have as a political/cultural symbol? The established scholars and promising young researchers who contributed to this volume explore these and other important issues. All chapters are linked by a common effort to address issues that need more attention and to discuss how those interested in the future of the American presidency--citizens as well as scholars--can enlarge their understanding of the office, its operations, and its place in American political life.

George Bush's critics charge the president with paying undue attention to opinion polls, focusing on symbol rather than substance, and allowing the nation to drift at a time that loudly demands leadership. In response, Mr. Bush's defenders applaud him for his prudence in the face of international instability, his resolution in the face of Iraqi aggression, and his realistic approach to national problems. Each chapter of Leadership and the Bush Presidency addresses these issues with specific regard to the upcoming presidential election, the potential for governance in a second term, and the legacy of the Bush presidency for future presidents. Leadership and the Bush Presidency offers the most comprehensive coverage of the Bush presidency to date. It includes chapters by the nation's foremost political scientists on leadership, executive branch relations, Congress, federalism, public opinion, the Republican Party, conservatives, domestic and foreign policy, and civil rights. This important book should appeal to the general reader seeking information about Bush's approach to the presidency and the conduct of his first term in office; to scholars interested in leadership and the contemporary presidency; to students seeking better understanding of the chief executive office in our times; and to libraries with collections in American politics and history.

During his first term in office, Pres. George W. Bush made reference to the "unitary executive" ninety-five times, as part of signing statements, proclamations, and executive orders. Pres. Barack Obama's actions continue to make issues of executive power as timely as ever.
Unitary executive theory stems from interpretation of the constitutional assertion that the president is vested with the "executive power" of the United States. In this groundbreaking collection of studies, eleven presidential scholars examine for the first time the origins, development, use, and future of this theory.
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The Unitary Executive and the Modern Presidency" examines how the unitary executive theory became a recognized constitutional theory of presidential authority, how it has evolved, how it has been employed by presidents of both parties, and how its use has affected and been affected by U.S. politics. This book also examines the constitutional, political, and even psychological impact of the last thirty years of turmoil in the executive branch and the ways that controversy has altered both the exercise and the public's view of presidential power.