Government 334
The United States Presidency
Ron Seyb
Ladd 311
Ext. 5248
Office Hours:
M & W, 12:30-2:30 PM
Fall 2015
Course Description
This course focuses on the development and properties of the "modern" or
post-FDR presidency. The first 2/3 of the course will trace the evolution of the
modern presidency, paying particular attention to the roles Woodrow Wilson
and Franklin Delano Roosevelt played in creating a presidency responsible for
managing a large administrative state, initiating domestic legislation, setting
foreign and national security policy, and communicating with the public. The
last 1/3 of the course will take-up a series of case studies of presidential
leadership, focusing on how six different presidents (Eisenhower, Johnson,
Nixon, Reagan, Bush, and Obama) sought—and, in Obama’s case, continue to
seek—to use the resources of the modern presidency to place their stamp on
public policy.
Course Goals
The course is designed to enable students to:
1. Understand that the modern presidency is the product of a
developmental trajectory that can only be appreciated by examining the
institution’s past
2. Engage with the debate about the origins and significance of “the
rhetorical presidency”
3. Appreciate the ways that changes in the presidency have produced
systemic consequences that are not easily understood without first
understanding the office’s development
4. Understand that presidential leadership is a function of both individual
presidents’ political skills and temperaments and institutional
opportunities and constraints
Course Requirements
40% of your final grade will be determined by your performance in a
presidential campaign simulation.
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30% of your final grade will be determined by your performance on a 1015 page term paper. This paper will be due on Friday, December 4.
30% of your final grade will be determined by your performance on an inclass final examination to be administered on Wednesday, December 17 at 1:30
PM.
Attendance
You are allowed to miss 4 (four) classes. There are no excused absences.
I do not grant excused absences for two reasons: (1) I am unable to discriminate
between a valid and an invalid excuse for an absence (i.e., I cannot tell the
difference between those illnesses, celebrity break-ups, and 13 Going on 30 caliber
caliber life changes that are serious and those that are trivial), and (2) Four
absences allow you to miss a week of class without incurring any penalty. That
is more generous than a Ted Cruz hair gel application. I will treat tardies as
absences. I do often say significant things at the outset of class about readings,
assignments, proper disposal of motor oil, etc. It is hence important that you be
present at 11:15 AM.
I will deduct 2% from your final grade for each absence over the 4
absence limit (e.g., a student who earns a cumulative score of “90” (A-) on the
course assignments who compiles 4 absences will receive an “88” (B+) for the
course).
If you reach three absences, I will send you an email alerting you that
your next absence will cause me to deduct 2% from your course grade.
You should also keep in mind that according to The Academic Information
Guide, "any students who miss more than a third of the (class) sessions may
expect to be barred from (the) final examination. In such cases, the course
grade will be recorded as F."
Laptops
Laptops and tablets are not allowed in class. I know how many families
have been torn apart y social media—and that includes adorable meerkat
families—and I am determined not to allow it to destroy our… uh… family
thing. I recognize that not even the most steely of wills can resist these near
occasions of sin. Students who have a disability that precludes them from taking
notes with any instrument other than a laptop must provide me with
documentation testifying to their “laptop needs” by the end of the second week
of classes (i.e., Friday, September 18)
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Smart Phones and Their Ilk
I recognize that phones are now so essential to human life that they
function as kidneys for many of us. You, nonetheless, cannot use these devices
during class because, while I know that there is some dispute about this, the
preponderance of the evidence suggests that they are distraction machines and
not sparkling amulets of knowledge production. If I do see you texting in class
or otherwise interacting with this brain cell killing field, then I will send you an
email reminding you of the policy. Should I see you using your Tech Crunch
Disrupt a second time, I will deduct two points from your course grade, with
additional two point deductions tacked on for each additional time I identify a
criminal pattern (NB: I do not accept appeals of the nature of “But I wasn’t
texting.” You hence should try to avoid giving off even the appearance of
texting).
Books
The following books are available at The Skidmore Shop for less than it
cost the Bush family for the reconstructive surgery necessary to turn “Jeb Bush”
into “Jeb!”:
Harold Bruff, Untrodden Ground
George Edwards, The Strategic President
Michael Nelson, The Evolving Presidency
Jeffrey Tulis, The Rhetorical Presidency
Important Note about The Hodges Harbrace Handbook
All Government majors are now required to own a copy of The Hodges
Harbrace Handbook. While it would be ideal if you owned the most recent edition
of this style guide (the 18th edition), you certainly can manage with an earlier
edition in the same way that Nick Cannon manages to be grating even without
Mariah Carey.
Weekly Topics and Reading Assignments
Note: An asterisk (*) denotes a reading available on Blackboard
Week 1 (September 9-11): The Constitutional Presidency
Readings: Bruff, Introduction and Chapter 1
Nelson, Document #1: The Constitution
Week 2 (September 14-18): Abraham Lincoln and Presidential Prerogative
Readings: Bruff, Chapter 5
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Nelson, Document #14: Abraham Lincoln’s Letter to Albert G.
Hodges
SIMULATION ROLE PREFERENCE SHEET DUE (Must Be Submitted by 5:00
PM)
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14)
Week 3 (September 21-25): The Mute Tribune
Readings: Tulis, Chapters 1 and 2
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 (Must be Submitted by 5:00 PM)
Week 4 (September 28-October 2): George Washington as "Enlightened
Statesman”
Readings: Bruff, pp. 25-52
Nelson, Document #4: George Washington’s First Inaugural Address
Nelson, Document #6: The Pacificus-Helvidius Letters
*George Washington’s Farewell Address
Week 5 (October 5-9): Thomas Jefferson and the Emergence of the American
Party System
Readings: Bruff, pp. 57-77
Nelson, Document #8: Thomas Jefferson’s First Inaugural Address
Week 6 (October 12-16) Theodore Roosevelt and the Transition to the
Rhetorical Presidency
Readings: Tulis, Chapter 4
FIRST SIMULATION EVENT
DOMESTIC POLICY DEBATES
WEDNEDAY, OCTOBER 14
Week 7 (October 19-23): The Wilsonian Revolution
Readings: Tulis, Chapter 5
*Woodrow Wilson, “Leaders of Men”
Nelson, Document #43: Jimmy Carter’s Crisis of Confidence Speech
TERM PAPER TOPICS DUE (Must be Submitted by 5:00 PM)
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23
Week 8 (October 26-30): FDR and the Making of the Modern Presidency
Readings: Bruff, Chapter 8
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*William Leuchtenburg, “Crash,” in William Leuchtenburg,
Herbert Hoover
*Huey Long, “Share Our Wealth Speech,” March 12, 1935
SECOND SIMULATION EVENT
FOREIGN AND NATIONAL SECURITY POLICY DEBATES
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28
Week 9 (November 2-6): Presidential Leadership I: Eisenhower's HiddenHand
Readings: *David Greenstein, “’The Hidden-Hand Presidency: Eisenhower as
Leader’ a 1994 Perspective,” Presidential Studies Quarterly 24(2)
(Spring 1994)
*David Greenberg, “The Romance of Realism,” The New Republic
(May 4, 2012)
Week 10 (November 9-13): Presidential Leadership II: LBJ and the Brokering
of the Great Society
Readings: Edwards, Chapter 1 and pp. 119-136
*Carl M. Brauer, “Kennedy, Johnson, and the War on Poverty,”
The Journal of American History 69 (1) (June 1982)
Nelson, Document #34: Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Great Society” Speech
Week 11 (November 16-20): Presidential Leadership III: Richard Nixon’s
Corporate Presidency
Readings: *David Greenberg, "Nixon in American Memory”
*Barbara Kellerman, “Richard Nixon and the Family Assistance
Plan,” Chapter 8 in Barbara Kellerman, The Political Presidency
Week 13 (November 23): Catch-Up
Readings: No Reading
THIRD SIMULATION EVENT
PRESENTATION OF POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENTS
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23
THANKSGIVING BREAK
Week 12 (November 30-December 4) Presidential Leadership IV: Ronald
Reagan as “The Great Communicator"
Readings: Edwards, pp. 34-60 and 136-151
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*Hugh Heclo, “The Mixed Legacies of Ronald Reagan,” Presidential
Studies Quarterly 38 (4) (December 2008)
Nelson, Document #44: Ronald Reagan’s First Inaugural Address
TERM PAPER DUE
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4
Week 14 (December 7-11): George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Presidential
Leadership in a Polarized Era
Readings: Edwards, pp. 166-187
*Jonathan Cohn, “How They Did It,” The New Republic (June 10, 2010)
*Jacob Hacker, The Road to Somewhere: Why Health Reform
Happened,” Perspectives on Politics (September 2010)
FOURTH SIMULATION EVENT:
FINAL SPEECHES AND VOTE
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9
FINAL EXAMINATION, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 6:00-9:00 PM, LADD 207
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