Faced with crises that would challenge any president, Barack Obama authorized "pay czar" Kenneth Feinberg to oversee the $20 billion fund for victims of the BP oil spill and to establish—and enforce—executive pay guidelines for companies that received $700 billion in federal bailout money. Feinberg's office comes with vastly expansive policy powers along with seemingly deep pockets; yet his position does not formally fit anywhere within our government's constitutional framework. The very word "czar" seems inappropriate in a constitutional republic, but it has come to describe any executive branch official who has significant authority over a policy area, works independently of agency or Department heads, and is not confirmed by the Senate-or subject to congressional oversight. Mitchel Sollenberger and Mark Rozell provide the first comprehensive overview of presidential czars, tracing the history of the position from its origins through its initial expansion under FDR and its dramatic growth during the presidencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama. The President's Czars shows how, under pressure to act on the policy front, modern presidents have increasingly turned to these appointed officials, even though by doing so they violate the Appointments Clause and can also run into conflict with the nondelegation doctrine and the principle that a president cannot unilaterally establish offices without legislative support. Further, Sollenberger and Rozell contend that czars not only are ill-conceived but also disrupt a governing system based on democratic accountability. A sobering overview solidly grounded in public law analysis, this study serves as a counter-argument to those who would embrace an excessively powerful presidency, one with relatively limited constraints. Among other things, it proposes the restoration of accountability—starting with significant changes to Title 3 of the U.S. Code, which authorizes the president to appoint White House employees "without regard to any other provision of law." Ultimately, the authors argue that czars have generally not done a good job of making the executive branch bureaucracy more effective and efficient. Whatever utility presidents may see in appointing czars, Sollenberger and Rozell make a strong case that the overall damage to our constitutional system is great-and that this runaway practice has to stop.

When Barack Obama entered the White House, he faced numerous urgent issues. Despite the citizens' demand for strong presidential leadership, President Obama, following a long-standing precedent for the development and implementation of major policies, appointed administrators--so-called policy czars--charged with directing the response to the nation's most pressing crises. Combining public administration and political science approaches to the study of the American presidency and institutional politics, Justin S. Vaughn and José D. Villalobos argue that the creation of policy czars is a strategy for combating partisan polarization and navigating the federal government's complexity. They present a series of in-depth analyses of the appointment, role, and power of various czars: the energy czar in the mid-1970s, the drug czar in the late 1980s, the AIDS czar in the 1990s, George W. Bush's trio of national security czars after 9/11, and Obama's controversial czars for key domestic issues. Laying aside inflammatory political rhetoric, Vaughn and Villalobos offer a sober, empirical analysis of what precisely constitutes a czar, why Obama and his predecessors used czars, and what role they have played in the modern presidency.

Failure should not be an option in the presidency, but for too long it has been the norm. 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 been a profile in failure. In Why Presidents Fail and How They Can Succeed Again, Elaine Kamarck surveys these and other recent presidential failures to understand why Americans have lost faith in their leaders—and how they can get it back. Kamarck argues that presidents today spend too much time talking and not enough time governing, and that they 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. This White House insider and former Harvard academic explains the difficulties of governing in our modern political landscape, and offers examples and recommendations of how our next president can not only recreate faith in leadership but also run a competent, successful administration.

Providing both a historical and contemporary perspective on presidential powers, The Powers of the Presidency guides readers through the presidency as a constitutional office, covering how it was shaped by design at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and by later constitutional amendments, Supreme Court decisions, and custom and precedent. It discusses the various roles of the chief executive, including chief of state, chief administrator, legislative leader, chief diplomat, commander in chief, and chief economist. The fourth edition of this accessible and affordable work has been significantly updated and features: · Coverage of the final years of George W. Bush and the first three years of Barack Obama′s presidency · Extensive coverage of the Obama Administration′s efforts to curb economic decline · Updates on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the killing of Osama bin Laden, and on the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay · Coverage of the Arab Spring protests and U.S. involvement in the military intervention in Libya · Barack Obama′s health care reform legislation

How institutions shape the American presidency This incisive undergraduate textbook emphasizes the institutional sources of presidential power and executive governance, enabling students to think more clearly and systematically about the American presidency at a time when media coverage of the White House is awash in anecdotes and personalities. William Howell offers unparalleled perspective on the world’s most powerful office, from its original design in the Constitution to its historical growth over time; its elections and transitions to governance; its interactions with Congress, the courts, and the federal bureaucracy; and its persistent efforts to shape public policy. Comprehensive in scope and rooted in the latest scholarship, The American Presidency is the perfect guide for studying the presidency at a time of acute partisan polarization and popular anxiety about the health and well-being of the republic. Focuses on the institutional structures that presidents must navigate, the incentives and opportunities that drive them, and the constraints they routinely confront Shows how legislators, judges, bureaucrats, the media, and the broader public shape the contours and limits of presidential power Encourages students to view the institutional presidency as not just an object of study but a way of thinking about executive politics Highlights the lasting effects of important historical moments on the institutional presidency Enables students to grapple with enduring themes of power, rules, norms, and organization that undergird democracy

In Lawless, George Mason University law professor David E. Bernstein provides a lively, scholarly account of how the Obama administration has undermined the Constitution and the rule of law. Lawless documents how President Barack Obama has presided over one constitutional debacle after another—Obamacare; unauthorized wars in the Middle East; attempts to strip property owners, college students, religious groups, and conservative political activists of their rights; and many more. Violating his own promises to respect the Constitution’s separation of powers, Obama brazenly ignores Congress when it won’t rubber-stamp his initiatives. “We can’t wait,” he intones when amending Obamacare on the fly or signing a memo legalizing millions of illegal immigrants, as if Congress doing its job as a coequal branch of government somehow permits the president to rule like a dictator, free from the Constitution’s checks and balances. President Obama has also presided over the bold and rampant lawlessness of his underlings. Harry Truman famously said, “The buck stops here.” When confronted with allegations that his administration’s actions are illegal, Obama responds, “So sue me.” Lawless shows how President Obama has betrayed not only the Constitution but also his own stated principles. In the process, he has done serious and potentially permanent damage to our constitutional system. As America swings into election season, it will have to grapple with finding a president who can repair Obama’s lawless legacy.

Our common sense, the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence, and our foundations of faith are under severe attack! This has compelled Kevin McGary to write about what he observes as a new era of illogical and completely irrational agendas dominating current U.S. government leadership. McGary presents a refreshing voice with compelling evidence that speaks to how 'we the people, ' through 'blind trust' and lack of involvement, may have been wholly complicit in supporting the erosion of rights, liberties, and freedoms. He contends, collective zeal for a new era of 'hope and change' has prompted irrational support for government leadership made up of charismatic personalities grounded in the strategic use of masterful rhetoric infused with intellectual dishonesty, and devoid of substance needed to move the country forward. Through thoughtful analysis presented from multiple vantage points, McGary illuminates why and how a state of instant and selective insanity has permeated the current political spectrum. McGary is an African American with strong roots in voting democratic, and is a member of the NAACP. He confirms that while current party platforms and progressive agendas for healthcare, education and abortion have provided lofty rhetoric for the Democratic Party, they actually result in debilitating and oppressive social agendas and schemes that only perpetuate further enslavement of the 'under-privileged' and 'under-served!' He presents evidence confirming the actual social justice foundations proclaimed by our forefathers: 'life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, ' and their human rights proclamation: 'liberty and justice for all, ' are even further undermined by current 'new era' politicians at the expense of the progressive agenda. In the end, McGary contends the U.S suffers from a lack of leadership in that there is a lack of competence and general lack of experience in the current administration. This has lead to a significant erosion of the primary foundations that have facilitated our history of success! Undermining of faith foundations and the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence threatens to propel the country back into the state of oppression and tyranny it fled when becoming an independent nation. Needless to say, supporting this cycle is irrational and illogical. Doing the same things over again yet expecting different results, is Alert Einstein's definition of insanity. The culmination of the facts surrounding our current direction and support of 'progressive' leadership are carefully presented as evidence of our general state of...instani

Lively and engaging essays covering President Obama’s domestic and foreign policy, governing style, and character.

Distrust of government is a natural response to a controlling and out-of-control bureaucracy. The motivation for protest and reform is not animosity towards government and its legitimate functions, but a love of America and a passionate desire to pass on to the next generation the innumerable blessings of liberty. Citizens are frightened by the governments relentless growth, unsustainable debt trajectory, culture of corruption, and encroachment of individual rights.... Critics of the tea party movement attempt to derail it with meritless claims of racism, extremism, bigotry, conspiracy, class-warfare and malice. The claims are ridiculous. Tea party participants include members of every party, social class, ethnicity, age and gender; they hold varying views on a number of issues, but share a deep appreciation for the limited, constitutional government established by Americas founders. They see Washingtons profligate spending, imperious unaccountability, and reprobate political environment as symptoms of a federal government that recognizes no limitations on its power. They feel a civic responsibility to speak out and to work toward a return to constitutional governance and sound fiscal policy. This is not a book about the tea party movement. It is a book about the political, economic and cultural upheavals fueling the movement: the insanely escalating national debt; the increasingly coercive and contemptuous political establishment; the arrogant failure of true political leadership; and the pervasive assault on the society-sustaining virtues of truth, trust, integrity, morality, freedom, and civility.