The Constitution of the United States says little about the president's specific duties other than the enforcement of the laws of the land. Combining brilliant scholarship with a lively style, this book reveals how deep-seated forces, inherent in American society and affecting the presidency for over two centuries, have transformed the office created by the framers of the Constitution into the complex, powerful, and responsible institution it is today. The administrations of the "strong" presidents have added to the powers and duties of the office as we know them. In addition, such social and political forces as the growth of political parties, economic and geographic expansion, and the changing nature of the national government have all had their influence on the presidency. These processes are historically traced by the author and illustrated by vivid examples of how they worked in the case of such holders of the office as Washington, Jackson, Polk, Lincoln, the two Roosevelts, and Eisenhower. Every chapter of the book brings a fresh and authoritative approach to an office and an institution that is the subject of searching debates today.

Harry Truman's administration began searching for an American response to the clash in Indochina between Frech colonialism and Vietminh communism in 1945. Thirty years and five administrations later, Gerald Ford and his aides tried unsuccessfully to solicit additional aid for South Vietnam from a reluctant Congress. For Truman, Ford, and every American leader in between, the dilemma in Vietnam hung ominously over the presidency. In Shadow on the White House, seven prominent historians examine how the leadership of six presidents and an issue that grew into a difficult and often unpopular war shaped each other. Focusing on the personalities, politics, priorities, and actions of the presidents as they confronted Vietnam, the authors consider the expansion of presidential power in foreign-policy formulation since World War II. In their analyses, they chronicle the history of executive leadership as it related to Vietnam, assess presidential prerogatives and motives on war and peace issues, and clarify the interconnection between the modern presidency and the nation's frustrating, tragic, and humiliating failure in Southeast Asia. Although other histories have been written about the Vietnam experience, this book is the first systematic and comparative survey on presidential leadership as it relates to the war issue. It is organized by presidential administrations, giving a detailed examination of each president's decisions and policies. Based on the most recently opened archival sources, the essays provide a framework on which to hang the kaleidoscopic events of the war. -- Amazon.com.

Presidents and their administrations since the 1960's have become increasingly active in environmental politics, despite their touted lack of expertise and their apparent frequent discomfort with the issue. But how have modern presidents actually handled the concerns politics posed by environmentalism in all its complexities? --

A look at the White House in pictures and prose.