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Overview
Presidents are surrounded by political strategists and White House counsel who presumably know enough to avoid making the same mistakes as their predecessors. Why, then, do the same kinds of presidential failures occur over and over again? Why Presidents Fail answers this question by examining presidential fiascos, quagmires, and risky business-the kind of failure that led President Kennedy to groan after the Bay of Pigs invasion, "How could I have been so stupid?"In this book, Richard M. Pious looks at nine cases that have become defining events in presidencies from Dwight D. Eisenhower and the U-2 Flights to George W. Bush and Iraqi WMDs. He uses these cases to draw generalizations about presidential power, authority, rationality, and legitimacy. And he raises questions about the limits of presidential decision-making, many of which fly in the face of the conventional wisdom about the modern presidency.
Richard M. Pious is Adolf S. and Effie E. Ochs Professor of American Studies in the political science department at Barnard College and the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction: Presidential FiascoesChapter 2 Chapter 1. Reputation: Eisenhower and the U-2 FlightsChapter 3 Chapter 2. Power Stakes: Kennedy and the Bay of PigsChapter 4 Chapter 3. Compellence: Johnson and the Vietnam EscalationChapter 5 Chapter 4. Command: Ford and the MayaguezChapter 6 Chapter 5. Rhetoric: Carter and the Energy CrisisChapter 7 Chapter 6. Prerogative: Reagan and the Iran-Contra AffairChapter 8 Chapter 7. Gamesmanship: Bush and the BudgetChapter 9 Chapter 8. Program Innovation: Clinton and Health CareChapter 10 Chapter 9. Parallel Governance: Bush and Iraqi WMDChapter 11 Chapter 10. Presidents Unbound: Crises of Authority and LegitimacyChapter 12 Chapter 11. Risk and Resilience: Toward a White House Learning Curve
What People are Saying About This
James Pfiffner
As Richard Pious traces the anatomy of presidential failures, he argues that, under conditions of high pressure and great uncertainty, presidents too often engage in “situational constitutionalism” and fail to distinguish between their personal stakes and the nation’s best interests. His carefully reconstructed and detailed case studies do not present merely the conventional wisdom about some obvious presidential blunders, but include incisive analyses of the underlying dynamics of presidential failures that contain important lessons for future presidents and citizens alike.
