Waubonsee Community College

Why presidents fail, and how they can succeed again, Elaine C. Kamarck

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 155-170) and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Why presidents fail

bibliography

919480368

Elaine C. Kamarck

and how they can succeed again

From the botched attempt to rescue the U.S. diplomats held hostage by Iran in 1980 under President Jimmy Carter and the missed intelligence on Al Qaeda before 9/11 under George W. Bush to, most recently, the computer meltdown that marked the arrival of health care reform under Barack Obama, the American presidency has often been a profile in failure. In [this book], Elaine Kamarck surveys presidential failures to understand why Americans have lost faith in their leaders--and how they can get it back. Kamarck, a White House insider and Harvard academic, argues that presidents today spend too much time talking and not enough time governing. They have not balanced three components of leadership that must be exercised to bring about good results: policy, communication, and implementation. Instead, presidents have allowed themselves to become more and more distant from the federal bureaucracy that is supposed to implement policy. After decades of "imperial" and "rhetorical" presidencies, we are in need of a "managerial" president. Kamarck explains the difficulties of governing in our modern political landscape, and offers examples and recommendations of how our next presidents can not only recreate faith in leadership but also run a competent, successful administration. -- Inside jacket flap

The helicopters in the desert -- Ignoring the flashing lights -- We look like a third world country -- Space walks and crashing websites -- The buck doesn't stop here after all -- The voters guide to picking presidents