Presidential Leadership: Politics and Policy Making

Long established as a leading introduction to the American presidency, Presidential Leadership, Fourteenth Edition, provides students with a comprehensive survey that addresses the capacity of chief executives to fulfill their tasks, exercise their powers, and utilize their organizational structures to affect the output of government.The authors examine all aspects of the presidency in rich detail, including presidential powers, presidential history, and the institution of the presidency. Edwards, Mayer, and Wayne analyze the institution and the presidents who hold the office through the key lens of leadership.The authors explain the leadership dilemma presidents face and their institutional, political, and personal capacities to meet it.Two models of presidential leadership help students understand the institution: one in which a strong president dominates the political environment as a director of change, and another in which the president performs a more limited role as facilitator