1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910788267703321

Autore

Ambar Saladin M

Titolo

How governors built the modern American presidency [[electronic resource] /] / Saladin M. Ambar

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Philadelphia, : University of Pennsylvania Press, c2012

ISBN

1-283-89858-6

0-8122-0623-1

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (200 p.)

Collana

Haney Foundation Series

Disciplina

352.230973

Soggetti

Presidents - United States - History - 19th century

Presidents - United States - History - 20th century

Executive power - United States - History - 19th century

Executive power - United States - History - 20th century

Governors - United States - Powers and duties

United States Politics and government 1865-1933

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

The hidden prince: unveiling the presidency's executive narrative -- Emerging executives of the Second Republic, 1876-1912 -- Theodore Roosevelt and the new American executive, 1881-1911 -- An "unconstitutional governor": Woodrow Wilson and the people's executive -- Prince of the Hudson: FDR's Albany executive -- "Undoing the framers' work": executive power and American democracy.

Sommario/riassunto

A governor's mansion is often the last stop for politicians who plan to move into the White House. Before Barack Obama was elected president of the United States, four of his last five predecessors had been governors. Executive experience at the state level informs individual presidencies, and, as Saladin M. Ambar argues, the actions of governors-turned-presidents changed the nature of the presidency itself long ago. How Governors Built the Modern American Presidency is the first book to explicitly credit governors with making the presidency what it is today.By examining the governorships of such presidential stalwarts as Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, political scientist Ambar shows how



gubernatorial experience made the difference in establishing modern presidential practice. The book also delves into the careers of Wisconsin's Bob La Follette and California's Hiram Johnson, demonstrating how these governors reshaped the presidency through their activism. As Ambar reminds readers, governors as far back as Samuel J. Tilden of New York, who ran against Rutherford Hayes in the controversial presidential election of 1876, paved the way for a more assertive national leadership. Ambar explodes the idea that the modern presidency began after 1945, instead placing its origins squarely in the Progressive Era.This innovative study uncovers neglected aspects of the evolution of the nation's executive branch, placing American governors at the heart of what the presidency has become-for better or for worse.