The strategic presidency: hitting the ground running

Abstract

Perfectly timed to anticipate possible election of a new president in 1996, second edition of James Pfiffner's Strategic Presidency provides most complete and authoritative volume on presidential transitions from JFK to Bill Clinton. First published in 1988, it is now more valuable than ever with addition of new chapters on Bush and Clinton transitions and numerous other revisions that greatly update volume. When book first appeared eight years ago, it was hailed by American Political Science Review as an important new work following in the path that Richard Neustadt long ago blazed in his classic book, Presidential Power. Immediately recognized for its contributions to scholarship, it also popularized a new phrase, the strategic presidency, which has since become an essential part of lexicon in presidential studies. As this book makes clear, to accomplish his policy objectives, a new president must always first get control of government. Thus White House must organize itself; establish a cabinet; recruit presidential appointees; confront entrenched career bureaucracy; and formulate a legislative agenda. The supreme challenge of this transitional period, Pfiffner argues, is that all of this must be done in a very compressed time frame and under extreme pressure of press scrutiny and unrealistically high public expectations. Even so, he also shows that systematic preparation during this period can maximize a president's opportunity at beginning of a term. Contrary to much conventional advice, Pfiffner contends that a newly elected president's best opportunity for achieving policy goals is at beginning of term. Even if a honeymoon atmosphere does not prevail, Congress is likely to be more receptive to presidential initiatives in early months of a term, and public opinion is likely to decline after several months in office. That's why it's so important for presidents to hit ground running. Like first edition, new one provides a concise guide for scholars and presidential aides and will be widely adopted for courses on modern presidency. With its fine blend of insider perspective, illuminating anecdotes, and user-friendly political analysis, it will also appeal to general readers.