Authors Sidney Milkis and Michael Nelson look at each presidency broadly, focusing on how individual presidents have sought to navigate the complex and ever-changing terrain of the executive office and revealing the major developments that launched a modern presidency at the dawn of the twentieth century. By connecting presidential conduct to the defining eras of American history and the larger context of politics and government in the United States, this award-winning book offers perspective and insight on the limitations and possibilities of presidential power. In this Seventh Edition, marking the 25th anniversary of The American Presidency's publication, the authors add new scholarship to every chapter, re-examine the end of George W. Bush's tenure, assess President Obama's first term in office, and explore Obama's second term.

Author Biography

Sidney M. Milkis is the White Burkett Miller Professor and the Cavaliers' Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Politics and a Faculty Associate at the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. His books include The President and the Parties (1993), The Politics of Regulatory Change, 2d edition (1996), Political Parties and Constitutional Government (1999), Presidential Greatness (2000), and The New Deal and the Triumph of Liberalism (2002). His articles have appeared in Political Science Quarterly, Studies in American Political Development, The Journal of Policy History, and several edited volumes. Michael Nelson is Fulmer Professor of Political Science at Rhodes College and a senior fellow at the University of Virginia's Miller Center. A former editor of the Washington Monthly, his most recent books include Trump's First Year (2018); The Elections of 2016 (2018); The Evolving Presidency: Landmark Documents (2019); The American Presidency: Origins and Development (with Sidney M. Milkis, 2011); and Governing at Home: The White House and Domestic Policymaking (with Russell B. Riley, 2011). Nelson has contributed to numerous journals, including the Journal of Policy History, Journal of Politics, and Political Science Quarterly. He also has written multiple articles on subjects as varied as baseball, Frank Sinatra, and C. S. Lewis. More than fifty of his articles have been anthologized in works of political science, history, and English composition. His 2014 book, Resilient America: Electing Nixon, Channeling Dissent, and Dividing Government, won the American Political Science Association's Richard E. Neustadt Award for best book on the presidency published that year; and his 2006 book with John Lyman Mason, How the South Joined the Gambling Nation, won the Southern Political Science Association's V.O. Key Award.