Popular imagination gives the President of the United States vast, sweeping power. The Constitution tells a different story. This book is about the gap between the two.
The Office of the Presidency: Powers and Responsibilities is a free, introductory political science textbook for undergraduate students. It examines the American presidency through the lens of the leadership dilemma — the persistent gap between what the public expects presidents to accomplish and what the office actually empowers them to do.
Each chapter explores a key dimension of presidential power: the constitutional origins of the office, nominations and campaigns, the tools and limits of executive authority, the relationship with Congress and the courts, war and foreign policy, and the presidency's management of public opinion and the media. Throughout, the focus is not on the presidents who have held the office, but on the office itself — its surprising constraints, its creative expansions, and the enduring tension between expectation and reality that has shaped every presidency from Washington to the present.
Ch. 3
Nominations and Elections
Ch. 4
The Presidential Campaign
Ch. 6
The President and Congress
Ch. 7
The President and the Courts
Ch. 8
The President and the Public
Ch. 9
The President and the Media
Ch. 10
War and Foreign Policy
Appendix
Annotated Constitution