The Evolving Presidency: Landmark Documents, 1787-2010

by Michael Nelson (Editor)

Remind your students that primary sources are an essential part of today′s information rich age. With Michael Nelson’s fourth edition of The Evolving Presidency , more than 50 documents help to anchor the ever-changing presidency in historical context. Seeing how presidents shape U.S. history through both word and deed, students encounter a range of documents- from speeches and debates to letters and landmark Supreme Court decisions. Every selection has its own headnote that is carefully crafted to convey the significance of the document during its own time and its lasting effects on the office of the presidency. Documents new to this
• Memo from Walter F. Mondale to Jimmy Carter Proposing the Modern Vice Presidency (1976)
• Bush v. Gore (2000)
• Barack Obama’s Campaign Speech on Race in America (2008)
• Barack Obama’s Health Care Address (2009)

360 pages, Paperback

First published February 15, 2011

About the author

Michael Nelson is the Fulmer Professor of Political Science at Rhodes College. He has published multiple books, the most recent of which is Resilient America: Electing Nixon, Channeling Dissent, and Dividing Government (2014). Other recent books are The American Presidency: Origins and Development, 1776–2014, with Sidney Milkis (2015); The Presidency and the Political System, 10th ed. (2014); and The Elections of 2012 (2013). He has published numerous articles in scholarly journals such as the Journal of Politics and Political Science Quarterly and in periodicals such as Virginia Quarterly Review, the Claremont Review of Books, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. Although most of his articles have been about American politics and government, he also has written about C. S. Lewis, Frank Sinatra, Charles Dickens, Garrison Keillor, football, and baseball. More than 50 of these articles have been reprinted in anthologies of political science, history, and English composition. He is editor of the American Presidential Elections book series for the University Press of Kansas and is currently writing a book about the 1992 election.

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Reviews

[Brett · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a text from a class I took on the U.S. presidency. There's nothing wrong with it per se, but unless it is part of a larger program of study, I'm not sure there is a tremendous amount to gain by reading it.

It consists of about 50 short selections of what the editor considers "landmark" documents in the history of the presidency. They include examples such as inaugural addresses, major speeches, Supreme Court decisions, important letters, selections from the Federalist Papers and anti-federalist responses, and other assorted documents. All the selections are short (generally only a few pages long) and include an introduction from the editor explaining why each selection was included and its historical significance.

It can be a good resource and reference, but as I said, it essentially exists to supplement a more comprehensive curriculum.