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The hardest job in the world : the American presidency / John Dickerson.

by Dickerson, John, 1968-

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Random House, 2020.

352.230973 D549h

Presidents -- United States.

Executive power -- United States.

United States -- Politics and government -- 2017-

Alternate title:

American presidency

xxxi, 615 p. : ill.; 25 cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Executive in Chief -- Commander in Chief -- Welcome to the NFL -- First Responder -- Consoler-in-Chief -- Acting Presidential -- Action Hero President -- Confidence Man: The Economy -- A Historic Partisan Gap -- A New Era of Partisan Warfare -- On Separation of Powers -- Just Be Like LBJ! -- The End Depends on the Beginning -- Lost in Transition -- Hard at the Start -- How a President Decides -- Impulse Presidency -- The Expectation -- The Impossible Presidency -- Part II: Presidential Campaigns -- Candidate of the People -- No Hiring Manual for the Presidency -- What Got You Here Won't Get You There -- Restraint -- The Church of Perpetual Disappointment -- Amping up the Awful -- Part III: The Way We Live Now -- Winning Above All -- Resolve to be Honest -- Character Counts -- It's My Party -- The Uncertain Never Trumper -- Donald Trump's America.

"Imagine you have just been elected president. You are now commander-in-chief, chief executive, chief diplomat, chief legislator, chief of party, chief voice of the people, first responder, chief priest, and world leader. You're expected to fulfill your campaign promises, but you're also expected to solve the urgent crises of the day. What's on your to-do list? Where would you even start? The American presidency is in trouble. It has become overburdened, misunderstood, almost impossible to do. "The problems in the job unfolded before Donald Trump was elected, and the challenges of governing today will confront his successors," writes John Dickerson. After all, the founders never intended for our system of checks and balances to have one superior Chief Magistrate, with Congress demoted to "the little brother who can't keep up." In this eye-opening book, John Dickerson draws on history and contemporary times to show why we need to reevaluate how we view the presidency, how we choose our presidents, and what we expect from them once they are in office. Think of the presidential campaign as a job interview. Are we asking the right questions? Are we looking for good campaigners, or good presidents? Once a candidate gets the job, what can they do to thrive? Drawing on research and interviews with current and former White House staffers, Dickerson defines what the job of president actually entails, identifies the things that only the President can do, and analyzes how presidents in history have managed the burden. What qualities make for a good president? Who did it well? Why did Bill Clinton call the White House "the crown jewel in the American penal system"? And what lessons can we draw from past successes and failures? Ultimately, in order to evaluate candidates properly for the job, we need to adjust our expectations, and be more realistic about the goals, the requirements, and the limitations of the office."--From publisher.

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