This blog serves my presidency course (Claremont McKenna College Government 102) for the spring of 2026. SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE FOR THE BLOG ARCHIVE.
About this Blog
During the semester, I shall post course material and students will comment on it. Students are also free to comment on any aspect of the presidency, either current or historical. There are only two major limitations: no coarse language, and no derogatory comments about people at the Claremont Colleges.
Clinton nominees sail through, as does Roberts. But Alito is more obviously partisan, and the questions focus on abortion. Listen carefully to how he answers questions from pro-choice Republican Arlen Specter (who switches parties years later):
In 2016, Biden nominates but Senate GOP majority refuses to consider.
Nuclear option (above): Dems in 2013 with executive and lower-court noms. Reps in 2017 with SCOTUS. Trump nominates Gorsuch.
Why is Kavanaugh hearing more contentious? Probably helps GOP hold the Senate in 2018.
For Monday, read Edwards ch. 12. (slightly abbreviated class on Wed.)
What is a mandate (Edwards 377-378)
Coattails work when POTUS helps pull party members over the finish line: 1932, 1964, 1980. But there are very few marginal members anymore.
And a problem for bipartisan outreach. Reagan passed his program with help from Southern Democrats in Reagan districts. But there are few split districts or states anymore:
1— Strongly Support Passage 2— Support Passage 3— Do not Object to Passage 4— No Position on Passage 5— Oppose 6— Strongly Oppose 7— Secretary’s Veto Threat (single and multiple agency) 8— Senior Advisor’s Veto Threat 9— Presidential Veto Threat (285-286) and other warnings.
Carter came into office determined to set a rational plan for his time, but soon showed in practice that he was still the detail-man used to running his own warehouse, the perfectionist accustomed to thinking that to do a job right you must do it yourself. He would leave for a weekend at Camp David laden with thick briefing books, would pore over budget tables to check the arithmetic, and, during his first six months in office, would personally review all requests to use the White House tennis court.
If you are playing an administration figure or witness in the Congress simulation, you may write your paper about the individual you are portraying. Explain what you did in the simulation, and why you did it. Cite your own notes or prep memo. Quote from what you said in the simulation, and the questions you received from simulation senators.
Most of the paper should focus on the person in real life. What issues matter most to that person? What political advantages and constraints does this person have in achieving her or his goals? How does this person interact with Congress, and with what effect?
Option 2
Choose one currently serving Trump-appointed Supreme Court justice, executive official, or Republican congressional leader. Analyze the relationship between this individual and President Trump. Specify where it has aligned and where it has diverged. Identify specific instances (decisions, votes, public statements, or policy actions during the second Trump administration) in which your chosen figure has clearly pleased President Trump. and disappointed, resisted, or diverged from Trump. What formal and informal tools does Trump have to shape this person’s behavior? Anchor your analysis in primary sources such as speeches, interviews, social media posts, Congressional Record entries, hearing transcripts and judicial opinions.
Option 3
Choose your favorite movie (not TV series) in which a U.S. president (real or fictional) is a central character. It can be a serious historical drama about an actual president (e.g., Lincoln (2012) or Frost/Nixon) or a fictional film with a president as protagonist (The American President, or the 2025 Netflix film A House of Dynamite). The only rules: the president must drive the story, and it must be about the person's actions as president, not a pre-presidential career (e.g., The Apprentice, Young Mr. Lincoln).
Dissect how the film got the presidency right, where it went Hollywood-wild, and what it teaches -- or misleads -- us about executive power, leadership, and politics. This is your chance to blend pop culture with serious political science. Rewatch the movie like a scholar, apply course concepts, and back everything up with evidence.
In your essay, explain what drew you to this film and how you initially reacted to it. Does it seem different to you now that you are studying the presidency? Give very specific examples of what it got significantly right and wrong, with citations. Overall, does it enlighten or misinform?
Option 4
Propose and defend a specific constitutional amendment that alters presidential power. Your task is not just to suggest a reform, but to design it precisely, justify it historically, and evaluate its real-world consequences. Write your proposed constitutional amendment in formal amendment-style language (and you may use an existing proposal, with citation). It must modify one or more presidential powers and include implementation details. Identify the specific problem your amendment is to solve, anchoring your argument in at least two presidential actions since 2000. Explain how your amendment fits within (or departs from) constitutional principles, citing sources such as The Federalist and key Supreme Court cases. Using data from polls and legislative vote studies, assess whether your proposal could pass Congress and achieve ratification. And throughout, use primary and scholarly sources.
Option 5
Devise your own topic, subject to my approval and revision.
The specifications:
Essays should be typed (12-point), double-spaced, and no more than six pages long. I will not read past the sixth page.
Please submit all papers in this course as Word documents, not Google docs or pdfs.
Cite your sources. Please use endnotes in the format of the Chicago Manual of Style. Endnotes do not count against the page limit. Please do not use footnotes, which take up too much page space.
Misrepresenting AI-generated content as your own work is plagiarism and will result in severe consequences
Watch your spelling, grammar, diction, and punctuation. Errors will count against you.
Return essays to the Canvas dropbox for this class by 11:59 PM, Friday, April 17. (If you have trouble with Canvas, simply email it to me as an attached file.) I reserve the right to dock papers one gradepoint for one day’s lateness, a full letter grade after that.
Presidents talk about solving domestic problems but states & localities do most of the domestic policy implementation (Edwards 314-315).Discuss examples.
Federal Reserve System, FCC, Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Government Corporations
Agencies that perform services that the private sector could do, but are government-run for public benefit.
Amtrak, U.S. Postal Service, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
Redundancy, Duplication, and Overlap
GAO: "Services funded under the Older Americans Act of 1965 (OAA), as amended, overlap with 36 other federal programs but do not duplicate the social services and assistance they provide to older adults, according to GAO’s analysis. GAO found that these programs differ in the population served, goals and services provided, or both. The overlapping programs can complement OAA-funded services, for example by providing more specialized services relevant to an agency’s expertise. The areas of need served by these programs include health, nutrition, transportation, and employment. Nine departments and agencies administer the 36 non-OAA programs, which indicates there is fragmentation of services for older adults."
