American Presidency

In this course we examined, among other things, the powers of and limits on the American presidency, as well as the relationships between the president and other major actors in the political system. And we studied presidential leadership during time of war and crisis.

Now it is time to appraise and evaluate. (For more on this see Neustadt, chapter 9 and Ginsberg, chapter 10.)

In paragraph/essay form, please thoroughly answer the following:

–Which of our forty-six presidents do you believe is the greatest?[1] And why do you believe so? Submit a cogent argument for your position. Your paper must be at least two pages in length and double-spaced. You may cite sources if necessary.

You may find it useful to consider Professor Richard Neustadt’s four questions in your appraisal:

–what were his purposes and did these run with or against the grain of history?

–what was his “feel” for the nature of his power in the circumstances of his time?

–what was his stance under pressure in office?

–what was his legacy?