The Ferocious Engine of Democracy, Updated: From Theodore Roosevelt through George W. Bush

by Michael P. Riccards

Overview

In the first major, in-depth study since World War II, Michael P. Riccards provides a narrative history of the U.S. presidency, showing how the chief executives and their personalities shaped national events. Riccards provides coverage of each administration from TR to George W., with extended treatment of the more important presidents. Though there is some biographical material about each chief executive, the focus is on the issues, policies, legislative achievements and foreign policy decisions for each administration. Riccards freely offers his assessments of where each president's strengths and weaknesses were, and where they triumphed and failed during their terms in office.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780815412571
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	12/09/2002
Series:	Ferocious Engine of Democracy , #2
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	504
Product dimensions:	5.94(w) x 8.98(h) x 1.06(d)

Table of Contents

	Foreword	xi
	Introduction	xv
1	The President as Steward of the People (Theodore Roosevelt vs. William Howard Taft)	1
	The Conservative Congress	4
	A Square Deal	7
	The Big Stick	10
	The Panama Canal	12
	The Campaign of 1904	15
	Roosevelt Diplomacy	17
	Reforming Society	20
	The Bully Pulpit	25
	William Howard Taft and the Conservative Tradition	29
2	Prime Minister and World Prophet (Woodrow Wilson)	39
	Setting the Progressive Course	41
	Marine Diplomacy	45
	Mexican Embroglio	48
	Too Proud to Fight	52
	The Election of 1916	57
	A World Made Safe for Democracy	59
	On the Western Front	63
	Controlling the War Effort	74
	The Battle for a Peace	80
	The Versailles Settlement	81
	The Battle for the Treaty	86
3	The Republican Ascendancy 1921-1933 (Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover)	91
	The Ghost of Woodrow Wilson	93
	Harding's Domestic Policy	94
	Harding's Foreign Policy	98
	Coolidge's Ways	102
	Coolidge's Other World	108
	Coolidge as President	110
	The Agony of Herbert Hoover	112
	The Hoover Depression	115
	Nonintervention	120
	The End of the New Era	122
	The Republican Stewards	124
4	The Advent of the Modern Presidency (Franklin Delano Roosevelt)	127
	The Squire of Hyde Park	128
	The First New Deal	131
	The Mandate of 1936	139
	Setbacks for the Chief	142
	From Mastery to Drift	146
	The Domestic Record	148
	Early International Concerns	151
	The Isolationist Fervor	152
	The Nazi Onslaught	156
	Hesitations in 1941	159
	War in the Atlantic	165
	Decision in the Pacific	166
	A Year of Defeats: 1942	168
	Managing the War at Home	173
	The Strategy of 1943	180
	The Last Election	184
	The Ordeals of Alliance	189
	The Other Warlords	191
	FDR as Commander in Chief	197
	Roosevelt in Retrospect	199
5	The Cold War and American Liberalism (Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson)	205
	Truman and the Uncertain Legacy	206
	To Err Is Truman	212
	The Cold War and Limited War	220
	No Substitute for Victory	227
	The Conclusion of the New Deal Reign	233
	Ike: From Commanding to Managing	236
	Covert Wars and Uneasy Peace	239
	The Politics of Defense	250
	Kennedy and the Perils of Camelot	258
	The Politics of Confrontation	261
	Unsteady Reforms	267
	The Cuban Missile Crisis	270
	Going into Vietnam	275
	Johnson: The Politics of Peace and Reform	278
	War: The Nemesis of Reform	286
6	The Cold War and American Conservatism (Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and Bush)	299
	Nixon and His Enemies	300
	The Tenets of the Nixon-Kissinger Foreign Policy	307
	Watergate: Symbol and Symptom	329
	The Ford Postscript	345
	Carter's Uncertain Trumpet	362
	Reagan and the Conservative Crusades	384
	Bush and the End of the Cold War	403
7	The Contemporary Presidency (Clinton and George W. Bush)	417
	Clinton's Agenda	418
	Clinton's Resurrections	421
	Bush II Goes to War	430
	Epilogue	435
	Notes	437
	Index	471
	About the Author	481

Editorial Reviews

· "I very much enjoyed reading The Ferocious Engine of Democracy, and I'm grateful to know of Riccards's perspective on the presidency." - Former President Bill Clinton · "Riccards views the U. S. presidency as a prism through which American politics and culture is reflected. …He writes very well, knows how to tell an interesting story, and is judicious in his evaluations." -Library Journal · "This narrative overview of the gargantuan literature of the presidency punctures myths and settles on conclusions not bound to please fans of this or that president…. A learned but nimble and astute survey." -Booklist

From the Publisher

For readers who may have been disappointed in the approach taken by Forrest McDonald in his recent overview, The American Presidency: An Intellectual History (LJ 2/1/94), this narrative history may be the complete reference work they had anticipated. Riccards is both a historian and college president, so he knows something about the theory and practice of leadership. He views the U.S. presidency as a prism through which American politics and culture is reflected and places particular emphasis on the Federalist, Jeffersonian, Jacksonian, Whig, Lincolnian, and Rooseveltian models of the presidency. Unlike other who survey the American presidency, Riccards does not devote equal time to each president. The truly great presidents-Abraham Lincoln in the 19th century and Franklin Roosevelt in the 20th century-receive the most coverage. The chronological and comprehensive presentation make the two volumes a handy reference book for most general libraries. Riccards writes very well, knows how to tell an interesting story, and is judicious in his evaluations. Strongly recommended for all libraries.-William D. Pederson, Louisiana State Univ., Shreveport

Library Journal