The State of the Union is no ordinary speech on at least two accounts: it is a fundamental statement of how a president approaches current policy debates, and it is the one presidential address that US citizens are most likely to hear each year. Donna Hoffman and Alison Howard document the political significance and legislative impact or, often, lack of impact of this most visible of    More >

Madam President? The question is not if, but rather when the United States will elect a female president—but that may be the only certainty involved in shattering this most visible glass ceiling in U.S. society.

Who will be included in the field of candidates for Madam President, and why? How will she have to position herself for a viable run at the Oval Office? Once in    More >

How did a president-elect whose win was hardly convincing, and who had the narrowest margin of congressional support imaginable, create an advantage for himself that prevailed in the face of unexpected and unprecedented challenges? To answer this question, John Burke offers an in-depth account of George W. Bush's unconventional transition to power—and the significant developments that    More >

Jimmy Carter participated in more than two hundred interviews between 1976 and 1996. In the twenty-three conversations presented here, highly regarded interviewers lead President Carter to clarify his public stands and private beliefs.

The dialogue created through these encounters demonstrates the growth of a principled man, encapsulating the major debates and concerns of the    More >

Desegregating the military. The internment of Japanese Americans. Limiting stem-cell research. Each of these actions has been accomplished by way of executive order—bypassing the legislative process. Adam Warber offers an in-depth look at how modern presidents use this weapon in their arsenal of authority.

Warber systematically analyzes the strategic nature of close to    More >

Florida 2000 offers a clear, but also nuanced, account of the legal and constitutional issues surrounding the disputed presidential election. Combining original sources with analyses, Mark Whitman traces the major developments in the Bush-Gore struggle.

Section introductions and commentaries synthesize the often complex material, while editor's notes provide context for each    More >

Kenneth Kitts offers entry into the highly political, behind-closed-doors world of blue-ribbon investigative commissions convened in the aftermath of national security crises.

Ranging from Pearl Harbor to the September 11 terrorist attacks, Kitts takes the reader into the "backroom" to watch as presidents, their advisers, and commission members confront an armory of    More >

Burke's detailed and comprehensive account of the four presidential transitions from Jimmy Carter to Bill Clinton explores how each president-elect prepared to take office and carefully links those preparations to the performance and effectiveness of the new administration. Enriched by interviews with the key participants, this sobering tale of the difficulties that new presidents have encountered    More >

From the news room  to pop culture, all signs suggest that the United States is finally ready for a woman in the White House. But is the vision of an imminent Madam President truly in line with today's political reality?  Rethinking Madam President offers a critical assessment of the inroads made by female candidates into the previously male bastion of electoral    More >

Are female office holders most acceptable when they most resemble men? Why has a woman never led the Department of the Treasury, or Defense, or Veterans Affairs? Reflecting on these and similar questions, MaryAnne Borrelli explores women's selection for—and exclusion from—U.S. cabinet positions.

Borrelli considers how the rhetoric employed in the selection and    More >

Why do presidents bother to give speeches when their words rarely move public opinion? Arguing that "going public" isn't really about going to the public at all, Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha explores to whom presidential speeches are in fact targeted, and what—if any—influence they have on public policy.

Eshbaugh-Soha shows that, when presidents speak, their    More >

Although unpaid, unelected, and unappointed, First Ladies have been functioning as powers behind the throne of the U.S. presidency since the nation was founded. This groundbreaking study shows clearly that the First Lady is an influential force in presidential politics and a subject worthy of serious scholarly attention.

Watson traces the development of the First Lady’s role—from    More >