[Politically Incorrect Guides 01] • The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Presidents by Hayward, Steven F. -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Contents Chapter 1 Not What the Founders Had in Mind

The Presidency Has Grown—and the Citizens Have Shrunk What Makes a Truly Great President? Measuring Presidents—the Forgotten Yardstick The Constitution Ignored

Chapter 2 The Presidency the Founders Created

The Electoral College and the Creation of “Deliberative Majorities” The Founders on the Character of the Executive Office George Washington’s Republican Modesty Our Early Presidents: Defenders of the Constitution The Birth of the Modern Presidency Grading the Presidents

Chapter 3 Woodrow Wilson, 1913–1921

Chapter 4 Warren G. Harding, 1921–1923

The Most Underrated Modern President An Unlikely Nomination, a Landslide Election Harding, the Anti-Wilson Solid Achievements in Foreign Affairs Harding on the Constitution Harding’s Posthumous Reputation The Scandals

Chapter 5 Calvin Coolidge, 1923–1929

A Classical American Education Rising Political Star Coolidge in the White House Coolidge’s One Supreme Court (Dis)Appointment

Chapter 6 Herbert Hoover, 1929–1933

Politics Is Not Engineering Hoover Tries to Fix the Depression, Inadvertently Makes It Great Out of Office, Hoover Moves Right

Chapter 7 Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933–1945

The Modern Left Is Far Left of FDR The Paradox of FDR FDR’s Living Constitutionalism FDR’s Assault on the Judicial Branch FDR’s Lasting Legacy: A Supreme Court Unconstrained by the Constitution

Chapter 8 Harry Truman, 1945–1953

The Self-Taught Statesman Truman’s Last Great Achievement: Cold War Strategy Abuse of Executive Power

Chapter 9 Dwight David (“Ike”) Eisenhower, 1953–1961

A Master Manager Not an Ideological Conservative

Chapter 10 John F. Kennedy, 1961–1963

Kennedy’s Recklessness Character and Performance in Office Botching the Cuban Missile Crisis JFK, Supply-Sider Kennedy’s Political Legacy JFK’s Constitutional Legacy

Chapter 11 Lyndon Baines Johnson, 1963–1969

Chapter 12 Richard M. Nixon, 1969–1974

Nixon’s Complicated Character and Forgotten Magnanimity The Embattled President The Folly of Détente Nixon’s Liberalism on Domestic Policy Getting Watergate Wrong Nixon’s Constitutional Legacy

Chapter 13 Gerald Ford, 1974–1977

Stagflation at Home Weakness Abroad A Mixed Record on the Constitution

Chapter 14 James Earl Carter, 1977–1981

Carter’s Character Domestic Policy Disasters President Malaise Foreign Policy Disasters President Carter’s Constitutional Grade

Chapter 15 Ronald Wilson Reagan, 1981–1989

Reagan the Restorer Reagan’s Unfinished Agenda The Pro-Life President The President’s Prerogative Power One Bull’s Eye and Two Close Shots

Chapter 16 George H. W. Bush, 1989–1993

Squandering the Reagan Legacy Bush Abroad A Split Decision

Chapter 17 William Jefferson Clinton, 1993–2001

By Order of the President Clinton’s Monument Valley I Beg Your Pardon From Odometers to Anteaters Things Go Better with Coke Close Enough for Government Work Family Values Rich and Pinky Descent to the Murky Bottom The High Cost of Bad Character Radicals in Black Robes

Chapter 18 George Walker Bush, 2001–2009

“Events, Dear Boy” More Compassionate Than Conservative? Defending America, Enraging the Left Bush and the Constitution

Chapter 19 Barack Hussein Obama, 2009–?

Obama’s “Fourth Wave” Ambitions The Nature of Obama’s Radicalism Obama’s Contempt for the Middle Class A Citizen of the World Holding the Constitution in Contempt Conclusion: Taking the Oath Seriously

Selected Bibliography Index