1st Edition
The Transfer of Power Between Presidential Administrations Trouble with the Transition
The Transfer of Power Between Presidential Administrations examines the problems that can occur when a new president enters office, with a focus on historical case studies.
The transition between presidents—especially when changing parties—is a wildcard in U.S. foreign policy that often confuses or concerns nations engaged with the United States. Though there are systems in place to ensure information gets passed from one administration to another, ideas and their execution can change dramatically when a new president takes office. Using case studies of six different incoming administrations during the Cold War and 21st century, this book will explore how the successes and failures in presidential transitions have had long-term effects on U.S. foreign policy, grand strategy, and international position. Looking at transitions involving multiple presidents, this book offers a fresh perspective on how foreign policy is formulated and carried out.
The book ends with an analysis of 21st-century transitions, making this work timely and important. This book will be of interest to students of modern American history, American politics and the modern presidency, and international relations.
0.Introduction. 1.Roosevelt to Truman: The Beginning of the Superpower Era. 2.Truman to Eisenhower: Harry Dislikes Ike and his Foreign Policy Rhetoric. 3.Eisenhower to Kennedy: Quagmire of Vietnam. 4.Kennedy to Johnson: The Tragic Transition. 5.Johnson to Nixon: The Treacherous Transition. 6.Carter to Reagan: The Definitive End of Détente. 7.The Transition in the 21st Century. Afterword: The Big Lie
Biography
Nicole L. Anslover is Associate Professor of History at Indiana University Northwest, USA. She is an expert on 20th-century U.S. history, diplomatic history, political history, and the modern American presidency in particular.
"Scholars have much to learn from Anslover’s outstanding analysis of the transfer of power—and not just about that specific subject, but about the presidency and political leadership, more broadly. This is an eminently readable, engrossing account of decades of presidential history, giving valuable insight into the foreign policies of numerous administrations and the people at the center of them...As Anslover notes, there is more work to be done in this area. Readers cannot help but come away convinced of that, and hopeful that such work will measure up to this first-rate piece of presidential scholarship."
Christopher J. Devine, Congress & the Presidency, 51:1, 103-104
