Customer Reviews

American President, The

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As a scholar of the American Presidency, I have read many of the modern works on the subject, including, of course Neustadt's classic work. Aside from Neustadt, however, you will not find a more relevant discussion of the American Presidency. This book encompasses all aspects of the position, including the history, constitutional responsibilities, leadership styles, and all facets of the job, including domestic, economic, and foreign policy. It is very well-written and well sourced. DiClerico is a master in his field, not only making this book crucial for an understanding of the subject but all-encompassing and very readable.

"The American President" is the only text that thoroughly discusses every aspect of the executive branch of the United States' government. The text covers the written and assumed powers of the presidency, the bureaucracy, the approaches of governing of past presidents, foreign affairs, the interaction between Congress and the President, the electoral process, the office of the vice president, etc...This is the finest book I have found for an excellent and thorough discussion of the American Presidency. This book is a necessary text for any registered voter.

I read this book for a class I was taking called "The Modern Presidency". I found the book to be factual and insightful, DiClerico's observations were generally truly interesting. My favorite thing about this book was that it was an easy read, some Political Science textbooks just put you to sleep, but I found I actually enjoyed reading this one. That said, I doubt I would have picked it up to read for pleasure, but it makes an excellent textbook for junior and senior level college courses.