Abstract
Presidential studies are evolving from historical and biographical explorations to more methodologically rigorous ones. Contemporary studies can benefit from a typology of presidential activities that allows us to actually see what presidents do. This paper develops a typology, and uses data from the Eisenhower, Johnson, and Nixon administrations to explore activity. The data largely confirm existing notions about activity and travel, but dispute popular conceptions of presidents being primarily legislators. One advantage of activity data is the ability to explore commonalities across presidencies. For example, support exists for the notion that presidents invest more time in legislative and social activities in election years. Another advantage is the ability to explore empirically presidential-congressional relations. A regression analysis determines that contact with Congress is driven primarily by members' institutional status and secondarily by partisan concerns. There is also some evidence that contact with Congress varies directly with a president's legislative success.
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