Description: This course provides an opportunity to delve into a number of topics, questions, and problems associated with the study of the president and the White House. We will be concerned with such things as the development of the office, the president's power and responsibilities, the restraints and limits on presidential power, the organization of the office, the use of staff and surrogates, relations with other participants in American politics and policy making, the president's impact on a variety of policy areas, and, not least, presidential elections and transitions.

The goals of the course are fairly straightforward. By the end of the course you should have a fairly full grasp of the functioning of the presidential office and some awareness of the impact of the presidency on American politics and public policy. You should understand just how powerful and powerless the president is. You should have some grasp of how the office has evolved, some knowledge of the impact different presidents have had, and be aware of the problems, criticisms and conflicts that the office is heir to. With luck, you will also be able to make some sense of what you read in the papers--keeping in mind that sometimes what you read in the papers makes no sense at all.

Reading: Three books are on the "required" list: Norman Thomas and Joseph Pika, The Politics of the Presidency (rev fourth edition); Michael Nelson, The Presidency and the Political System (6th ed.); and Paul  Light, The President's Agenda (third edition). Reading assignments are shown on the course calendar following. You will be able to take better notes in class as well as ask better questions and make more knowledgeable comments if you do the reading before class. Note that the course outline includes numerous references to sites on the internet.

Current News Your reading should range well beyond the texts. At minimum, since the president is easily the most newsworthy official in the government, try to keep up with his news--through the daily and weekly press and the internet. For the serious student of the contemporary presidency the New York Times is indispensable. The Washington Post is also informative. You can get news quickly from USA Today and the current headlines from MSNBC.  For variety go to
TodaysPapers or find a source you don't read very often on politics1.com. For this course especially check out the
White House Briefing Room. And in the library become familiar with the National  Journal and Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report.

Other Resources  There are a variety of internet directories available that can give you endless numbers of addresses. One of the best is Operation Vote Smart. You may also want to look at the home pages of  the Library of Congress..  The Library of Congress page can lead you to virtually all executive branch agencies as well as the House, Senate, and Judiciary. Naturally there are shelves of books in Olin on virtually every subject we will take up this semester. All of the texts have notes, and the Thomas and Pika volume has suggestions for further reading after every chapter. You can also learn a fair bit about what is available by simply browsing. Go into the stacks at about JK 500 and simply read the shelves. The history of the office and its occupants starts at about E 311.

Requirements: The requirements are straightforward.There will be one paper (about 10 double spaced pages, two drafts required), three hour exams, and a final. The required paper is described in more detail at the end of the syllabus.
In arriving at your final grade only the two best hour exams will be counted. This means that if you are satisfied with the grades on the first two you take, you need not take the third.  Note, however, that no make up hour exams will be given.  I encourage you to plan on taking the first two hour exams and use the third to boost your grade. Of course, you are free to skip one of the other hour exams if that is convenient, but, again, no make ups.

The relevant dates are marked on the course outline. Please make a note of the times now. Look especially for conflicts with the final exam, or the possibility of two or three finals on the same day. If you prefer to have only one final on any one day during exam week you should adjust your course schedule now. That is much easier than later trying to adjust your exam schedule.

The paper will count 20 percent and the two exams will each count 20 percent. The final exam will count 30 percent of your grade. The remaining 10 percent may be used to recognize active participation, unusual interest, particularly noteworthy papers, or other achievement. Otherwise it will simply be spread evenly over the papers and exams.

Office Hours: Normally I will be in my political science office (330 Eliot) from 11 to 12 on Friday and from 4:00 to 5:00 on M and W afternoons.  I may also be caught in my Teaching Center Office, 107 Eads, and I welcome appointments. My phone number is  935-5828. I  invite questions by e-mail; my e mail address is davis@artsci.wustl.edu  For emergencies, more or less, my home phone is 863-5646. Please, no emergencies after the 10:00 p.m. news.

Course Teaching Assistant   My assistant in this course is Jeff Smith--a graduate student in political science who has had
substantial experience in political campaigns.  His office is Eliot 317.  His office hours are from 1:00 to 2:15 on Monday and
Wednesday.  His e-mail address is jrsmith@artsci.wustl.edu

Aug 30 Introduction. Scan the tables of contents and read the prefaces. Check out the
           President's Office and the White House Briefing Room.Was President Clinton
            in the news today? Why? And what were candidates Gore and Bush up to? Many Presidencies; Presidential Roles

Sept 1 Studying the presidency. Read Nelson, chapters 1 and 2.Sources; How to Study; Studying the Presidency

        4 Labor Day holiday. No class.

        6 The evolution of the presidency.  Read chapter 1 in Thomas and Pika and Nelson, chapter 4.

        8 Presidents over time. Read Nelson chapter 5.

      11 Second term presidents. Read Nelson chapter 8.

      13 The organized presidency. The White House Office and the Executive Office of the President.
           Read chapter 15 in Nelson. Explore the White House and the Executive Office on the web.

      15 White House staff. Key players in the Clinton White House.

       18 The Vice President and the First Lady--past, present,future. Read Nelson, chapter 19.

       20  Presidential performance  Read Thomas and Pika, chapter 4.

       22 What manner of person? What does it take to be president? Read Nelson, chapters 6 and 7.

       25  The president and the media--overview. Read chapter 3, pp. 111-130 in Thomas and Pika
             and also chapter 12 in Nelson.in Edwards and Wayne.  Visit the Virtual Library and
            The Briefing Room . A long list of media links is available at Vote Smart
             And don't forget  politics1.com/news

       27   The president and the public. Read chapter 3 in Thomas and Pika, pp. 97-111 and chapter 11
               in Nelson.  Gallup and USA Today, among other sources, provide public opinion data
              relevant to the presidency. Also see the Pew Research Center.

       29   Clinton and public opinion.  And opinion about the candidates.

Oct    2   Presidential rhetoric; the presidential speech writer. Scan some presidential speeches and
               read Thomas and Pika, chapter 3, pp. 139-146. Look at the Debate Viewing Guide to prepare for the October 3rd debate.

          4  The first in class hour exam.

          6  Election politics; nomination campaigns. Read chapter 2 in Thomas and Pika and Nelson,
               chapter 9.

          9  The race to election--and victory or defeat.. Read chapter 10 in Nelson.

        11   President, party and party leadership.  Read Nelson, chapter 14. Take some time to review the
               home pages of the Democrats, Republicans, and any third party that interests or attracts you.
               For links to all the parties go to politics1.com/parties
        13   Fund raising issues. Check out the Federal Election Commission.
           First draft of course paper is due today.

        16 Presidential debates--past and present.
           See class notes.

        18  Who won? Why? So what?

        20   Fall Break.

        23   Governing from the White House. Read Nelson, chapter 13.

        25 The Cabinet and the Executive Branch. The Cabinet and independent agencies.
             Read Thomas and Pika,  chapter 6 and Nelson, 16..

        27 Presidential appointments. Ends or means. Jobs as rewards, currency. Who's in charge?

        30 The President, legislation, and the Congress. Read Thomas and Pika, chapter 5 and
             Nelson, chapter 17.  Look at House, Senate, and the Library of Congress on the web.

Nov   1  The advice and consent of the Senate.

          3  Second in class hour exam.

          6  The President and the Judiciary.  Read  Thomas and Pika, chapter 7 and Nelson, chapter 18.
           See class notes.

          8  Election results. Who won? Lost? Now what?

         10 Presidential transitions.

         13 The President and Public Policy. Read Nelson, chapter 20, and scan again chapter 13.

         15 The (next) President's Agenda.  Starting reading Light and finish by December 1.

         17  The President and Economic Policy.  Read Thomas and Pike,chapter 9.    Find out
                basic information concerning the Council of Economic Advisors and
                the National Economic Council.
           Final draft of course paper is due today.

         20   The Budget and Taxes. Now is the time to learn something about the
              Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office  and the
                Internal Revenue Service.

         22-24   Thanksgiving Break

         27   Social Security and Health Policy. Read  Thomas and Pika, chapter 8.  And see class
                notes.
.
         29  Foreign Policy, National Security, and the President . Read Thomas and Pika, chapter 10.
               What does the National Security Council do? The Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board?
               What can you glean from the Defense Department home page or from the
                Department of State's?  And, yes, the CIA has open home page.

Dec     1  The President as Commander in Chief.. You should
               be finished with Light, The President's Agenda, by today.

           4 Third in class hour exam.

            6 Intelligence, Surprise, and Threats

            8 Last class. Many Presidencies. Context, Challenge, and Change. Read
                Thomas and Pika, chapter 11.

          15 Final Exam 10:30-12:30 Location: Brown 118
 
 

                                      A Note About the Required Paper

The required paper in this course should be 10-12 pages long. It may go in one of three directions.

First,  you may write a paper that compares the election campaign of Bill Clinton in 1992 with that of
Al Gore in 2000 or a paper that compares the campaign of George Bush in l988 with that of
George W. Bush in 2000. Because the paper will necessarily be brief you may wish to focus the
paper on one or two particular aspects of the campaign.

Second, your paper may take the form of a memorandum or open letter to the next president
suggesting how (and why) he should organize his White House. The memo should highlight important
positions and perhaps the credentials important for each. Who should be hired first?  What positions
might go unfilled at first? Has the Clinton White House included positions that can be dispensed with
altogether? You might also want to point out the mistakes that have been made at the start of past
administrations and should be avoided in the new administration.

A third alternative is a more general paper that focuses on the overall issue of the transition.
What should the next president do to get ready?     How should he organize for the transition?
What tasks will need to be accomplished and in what order?  How can the President prepare to
make the best possible use of his first year? Remember, he must do everything from find a cabinet and
recruit a staff to write his inaugural speech and prepare his initial legislative package. What kind
of transition organization will he need? Youmight start by finding out how recent past presidents
organized their  transition and think also about the mistakes that were made and avoided.

The first draft of the paper, due October 13, should reflect back ground reading and show the overall
organization that you plan. The final draft, due November 17, will of course reflect knowledge of the
election results and relevant post election events. Both drafts will be graded, and the ultimate paper
grade will be an average of the two grades.

Care should be taken in writing and consultation with the Writing Center is encouraged. Each paper
needs a title and the paper should be well organized, clearly written and current. I prefer precise
economical prose that is consistent with standard English usage. Short sentences, short paragraphs,
and sub heads also enhance readability. References should be used where ever appropriate and a
thorough list of references, including internet sites, should be attached. Detailed guidance may be
found in the section on documentation contained in the official statement on Student Academic
Integrity which is printed on page 63  of the Fall 2000 Course Listings.

Please make every effort to turn the papers in when they are due. The grade on both the required
draft and the final paper will be reduced by one third for each business day the paper is late.  In
other words an A paper one day late will become an A- paper, a B+ paper after two days, etc--
but Saturday and Sunday  have no effect.