Free standard shipping on all orders
  • Visa
  • Master Card
  • American Express
  • Apple Pay
  • Google Pay
  • JCB

A History of the Modern American Presidency book cover

1st Edition

A History of the Modern American Presidency

By Kathryn Cramer Brownell Copyright 2026
236 Pages 47 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

236 Pages 47 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

A History of the Modern American Presidency guides students on a unique historical and sociocultural journey to explore and analyze the role and development of this important American phenomenon.   Rather than focusing on biographies of individuals, this book reorders presidential periods by looking at economic trends, technological changes, and the intersection between local movements and... Read more
1. Affairs of Honor: Origins of the Modern American Presidency 2. The Nineteenth Century Presidency 3. The State and the American Presidency during the Progressive Era 4. Inventing the Media Presidency: Public Opinion and Publicity in the Early Twentieth Century 5. The President and the Economy during the Great Depression 6. The President and the National Security State during the Cold War 7. The Presidency in the Television Era 8. The Presidency and Social Movements 9. The Presidency in Crisis 10. The Presidency and Grassroots Conservatism 11. The 24/7 Presidency 12. Legacies: The Presidency and the World in the Twenty-First Century

Biography

Kathryn Cramer Brownell is Professor of history and Director of the Center for American Political History, Media, and Technology (CAPT) at Purdue University, USA. She is the author of Showbiz Politics: Hollywood in American Political Life (2014) and the award-winning 24/7 Politics: Cable Television and the Fragmenting of America from Watergate to Fox News (2023).

"Moving from Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson to Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, and Donald Turmp, this book offers a fundamentally fresh and very engaging examination of the history of the modern presidency drawing on Kathryn Brownell’s expertise as one of preeminent scholars of media and politics."

Professor Lily Geismer, Claremont McKenna College

 

"Kathryn Cramer Brownell offers a concise, engaging, and astute survey of how presidents in the twentieth century were shaped by and shaped significant historical developments. She skilfully balances attention to personality and broader context, especially regarding the relationship between presidents and the media, the growth of presidential power, and the evolution of political partisanship. This book is a valuable resource for anyone interested in understanding not only the past, but current debates over executive authority and the role of the administrative state."

Professor Timothy N. Thurber, Virginia Commonwealth University

Add to Cart