March 2010

Why Presidents Fail

Richard M. Pious

Great amount of research must have gone into this work. Very fascinating detail of each president’s major failure since Eisenhower. The most interesting aspect is the depth of intellectual thought that Pious reveals when detailing the presidency. His thoughts and ideas will change the way we think about the institution and the way it should function.

• The Presidency

The Next 100 Years

George Friedman

Mildly entertaining. A lot of out of the box predictions and ideas but shallow in actual foreign policy and international relations. Friedman demonstrates that he is a fine intelligence analyst but does not give an impression that he really understands the current path of international relations. A good read to get one idea of what the world might look like in the 21st century but shouldn’t place all bets on it.

• World Politics

The Pragmatic Presidency

The American Presidency is a unique political institution that does not easily abide to scientific inquiry. Political scientists, presidential historians, scholars, and presidents have analyzed the institution in hopes of finding the key to a successful presidency. Some have created rating systems which try to reveal the common characteristics of successful presidents and the common qualities of those that failed. Others have produced works that could be described as how to succeed pieces. All of these studies have produced a wide variety of conclusions.

Research Paper: 

THE PRAGMATIC PRESIDENCY.doc

• The Presidency

Abraham Lincoln

The best way to predict your future is to create it.

• Society and Culture