36 pages • 1 hour read
Richard E. NeustadtPresidential Power and the Modern Presidents: The Politics of Leadership from Roosevelt to Reagan
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1960A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Key Figures
Richard E Neustadt
Richard E. Neustadt was born in 1919 and earned his PhD at Harvard University in 1951. He began the program prior to accepting a commission in World War II. Before returning to Harvard, he worked with the federal Bureau of the Budget, and in 1950 he was named a special assistant to President Harry Truman. Following the election of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Neustadt entered academia and published the first edition of Presidential Power in 1960. The book cemented his reputation as a foremost thinker about the presidency’s power in the United States. Presidents apparently found a particular utility in his perspective and advice. Thereafter, Neustadt worked with John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Jimmy Carter. In 1990, by adding several reflective essays to round out and update the original edition, Neustadt published Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents to much praise. He died in 2003.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) was the 32nd president of the United States. Building upon a career of public service, including time spent as a New York state senator and the assistant secretary of the US Navy, Roosevelt assumed the presidency in 1933. This was during the height of the Great Depression, which Roosevelt enacted the New Deal policies to combat. He was reelected three more times, leading the country out of the Depression and through World War II until his health deteriorated in 1945, before the war’s official end. Neustadt regards Roosevelt as a presidential ideal, praising his engagement with politics and policy and his consideration of various perspectives on these issues. Roosevelt is the model Neustadt uses to evaluate the quality of other presidents like Truman and Reagan.
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) was the 33rd president of the United States. Born in Missouri, Truman was a farmer who turned soldier come World War I, after which he served as a county judge and a US senator. Selected to be vice president during Roosevelt’s fourth term, Truman spent only 82 days in that role before Roosevelt’s death thrust him into the presidency. The defining moment of Truman’s administration is perhaps his decision to use the atomic bombs against Japan, which marshalled in the Cold War era. Truman is also noted for expanding several New Deal programs; approving the formation of several agencies, including the US Air Force, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Agency; and playing key roles in the Korean and Cold Wars. Neustadt, who served under Truman, praises several of his decisive actions, citing these decisions as calculated moves to bolster and maintain presidential power; he also criticizes Truman’s reliance on advisors who led him to make other, more questionable decisions.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) was the 34th president of the United States. He attended the US Military Academy at West Point, commissioning as a second lieutenant upon graduation. In 1941, in the middle of World War II, he achieved the rank of brigadier general; he later became the supreme commander of the Allied forces. This military experience was a boon to Eisenhower’s foreign policy and helped him ease Cold War tensions during his two terms as president. Neustadt initially takes a critical view on Eisenhower, arguing that his delegation style left him uninformed and vulnerable. However, he also uses Eisenhower to demonstrate the impact of reputation on the presidency, tracking how bad decisions squandered the prestige earned by Eisenhower’s military service and how firm, decisive choices helped rehabilitate his image.
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan (1911-2004) was the 40th president of the United States. He worked as a sports commentator, actor, and motivational speaker prior to becoming governor of California in 1966. After two unsuccessful bids for the Republican presidential nomination, he won the 1980 election, defeating the incumbent Jimmy Carter. Economic reform is the enduring legacy of Reagan’s first term, particularly the supply-side economic policies that became known as Reaganomics. Foreign policy issues denominated his second term, however, and Neustadt cites Reagan’s handling of the Iran-Contra affair to demonstrate how poor delegation and disengagement led to poor policy decisions, which Neustadt identifies as a key threat to presidential power.
