This book argues that modern presidents could learn much from Franklin Roosevelt's method of organizing his presidency. Roosevelt consciously avoided a large, functionally specialized White House bureaucracy. Instead, he developed staff agencies composed mostly of civil servants and personally managed them using competitive administrative practices. Matthew Dickinson is the first scholar to reconstruct the methods FDR used and his research suggests modern presidents could benefit greatly by studying them.
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Editorial Reviews
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"Bitter Harvest is a substantive and meaty book. It is well researched, clearly written, well-reasoned and closely argued." H-Net Reviews
"This detailed study of Roosevelt's administrative strategy seeks new insights into how contemporary presidents might derive better service from their advisers by emulating FDR's practices....Dickinson's study may well inaugurate another round of reexaminations focused on FDR." American Political Science Review
"Bitter Harvest is a substantive and meaty book. It is well researched, clearly written, well-reasoned and closely argued." H-Net Reviews
"Dickinson's book is of great value to those interested in FDR, his administrative style, and his unique approach to governing. The insights the author draws are well documented and can serve scholars interested in further developing the area under investigation. Finally, the book does serve as an alternative to those advocating a highly-structured executive branch. The lessons for future presidents are worth noting." Presidential Studies Quarterly
"Dickinson has written a provocative volume whose prescriptions will engage political scientists and those analysis of Roosevelt's policy making will interest New Deal historians....this book is an impressive piece of scholarship thoroughly grounded in the political science secondary literature....this is a thought-provoking study of an important topic." American Historical Review
"This detailed study of Roosevelt's administrative strategy seeks new insights into how contemporary presidents might derive better service from their advisers by emulating FDR's practices....Dickinson's study may well inaugurate another round of reexaminations focused on FDR." American Political Science Review
"Bitter Harvest is a substantive and meaty book. It is well researched, clearly written, well-reasoned and closely argued." H-Net Reviews
"Dickinson's book is of great value to those interested in FDR, his administrative style, and his unique approach to governing. The insights the author draws are well documented and can serve scholars interested in further developing the area under investigation. Finally, the book does serve as an alternative to those advocating a highly-structured executive branch. The lessons for future presidents are worth noting." Presidential Studies Quarterly
"Dickinson has written a provocative volume whose prescriptions will engage political scientists and those analysis of Roosevelt's policy making will interest New Deal historians....this book is an impressive piece of scholarship thoroughly grounded in the political science secondary literature....this is a thought-provoking study of an important topic." American Historical Review
Book Description
This book argues that modern presidents could learn much from Franklin Roosevelt's method of organizing his presidency. Roosevelt consciously avoided a large, functionally specialized White House bureaucracy. Instead, he developed staff agencies composed mostly of civil servants and personally managed them using competitive administrative practices. Matthew Dickinson is the first scholar to reconstruct the methods FDR used and his research suggests modern presidents could benefit greatly by studying them.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent book,
By A Customer
This review is from: Bitter Harvest: FDR, Presidential Power and the Growth of the Presidential Branch (Hardcover)
If you care about how the presidency works or should work, you will purchase this book. Dickinson not only presents a readable, intersting history of FDR, he wonderfully contrasts Roosevelt's techniques and how and why his successors ignored and refused to employ them. It's not a "catch-all" nor a "cookbook" for presidents (although it has both of those elements), but a study into what doesn't work at the executive organizational level. For something that will change the way you look at everything from Healthcare reform to Iran-Contra, this book is definitely a winner.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Terrific discussion of "institutional presidency",
By A Customer
This review is from: Bitter Harvest: FDR, Presidential Power and the Growth of the Presidential Branch (Hardcover)
"Bitter Harvest" discusses the original growth of the White House under FDR and contrasts his staff management techniques with those presidents who followed (and who, according to the author, did a far inferior job of making the staff work for the president rather than vice versa). There is a lot of detail on the 1930s and 1940s here, but it's worth digging through. The book makes a strong argument, and backs it up nicely; highly recommended for those interested in presidential power and the influence that presidential staffs have had on American public policy.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
There is an emerging consensus among scholars that the presidential branch is flawed, perhaps fatally so. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
competitive adhocracy, presidential bargains, executive staff agency, staff institutionalization, presidential branch, president needs help, presidential staffing, bargaining uncertainty, bargaining effectiveness, presidential agency, bargaining choices, bargaining support, legislative clearance, organizing the presidency, bargaining resources, bargaining objectives, reorganization authority, passion for anonymity, institutional presidency, bargaining interests, staff specialization, spot contracting, economic mobilization, military unification, staff choices Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, New Deal, United States, World War, Brownlow Committee, National Emergency Council, Brownlow Report, Personal Letters, War Department, Harry Hopkins, Hopkins Papers, State Department, Bureau of the Budget, Chief Administrator, Tower Commission, Secretary of War, Pearl Harbor, Great Britain, Government Printing Office, Secretary of State, Donald Nelson, Herbert Emmerich, Louis Brownlow, Public Papers, Supreme Court New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
There is an emerging consensus among scholars that the presidential branch is flawed, perhaps fatally so. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
competitive adhocracy, presidential bargains, executive staff agency, staff institutionalization, presidential branch, president needs help, presidential staffing, bargaining uncertainty, bargaining effectiveness, presidential agency, bargaining choices, bargaining support, legislative clearance, organizing the presidency, bargaining resources, bargaining objectives, reorganization authority, passion for anonymity, institutional presidency, bargaining interests, staff specialization, spot contracting, economic mobilization, military unification, staff choices Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, New Deal, United States, World War, Brownlow Committee, National Emergency Council, Brownlow Report, Personal Letters, War Department, Harry Hopkins, Hopkins Papers, State Department, Bureau of the Budget, Chief Administrator, Tower Commission, Secretary of War, Pearl Harbor, Great Britain, Government Printing Office, Secretary of State, Donald Nelson, Herbert Emmerich, Louis Brownlow, Public Papers, Supreme Court New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 106
books:
See all 106 books this book cites
- Roosevelt and Hopkins by Robert E. Sherwood on 10 pages
- Organizing the Presidency by Stephen Hess on 8 pages
- Researching the Presidency: Vital Questions, New Approaches (Pitt Series in Policy and Institutional Studies) by George C. Edwards on 7 pages
- A Staff for the President: The Executive Office, 1921-1952 (Contributions in Political Science) by Alfred Dick Sander on 6 pages
- Can the Government Govern? by John E. Chubb on 5 pages
See all 106 books this book cites
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