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.
But one of the weightiest objections to a plurality in the Executive, and which lies as much against the last as the first plan, is, that it tends to conceal faults and destroy responsibility. Responsibility is of two kinds -- to censure and to punishment. The first is the more important of the two, especially in an elective office. Man, in public trust, will much oftener act in such a manner as to render him unworthy of being any longer trusted, than in such a manner as to make him obnoxious to legal punishment. But the multiplication of the Executive adds to the difficulty of detection in either case. It often becomes impossible, amidst mutual accusations, to determine on whom the blame or the punishment of a pernicious measure, or series of pernicious measures, ought really to fall. It is shifted from one to another with so much dexterity, and under such plausible appearances, that the public opinion is left in suspense about the real author. The circumstances which may have led to any national miscarriage or misfortune are sometimes so complicated that, where there are a number of actors who may have had different degrees and kinds of agency, though we may clearly see upon the whole that there has been mismanagement, yet it may be impracticable to pronounce to whose account the evil which may have been incurred is truly chargeable.
The oath (keep in mind next week when we discuss Lincoln).
What he actually swore on:
Roberts screwed up:
Section 2
"The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States" (Edwards 47-49).
"[He] shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment."
Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. § 1101 et seq.): empowers POTUS TO suspend the entry of "any class of aliens" deemed detrimental to the interests of the United States.
Something to keep in mind during any discussion of presidential power: Where you stand depends on where you sit, or whom you support. Take signing statements:
But one of the weightiest objections to a plurality in the Executive, and which lies as much against the last as the first plan, is, that it tends to conceal faults and destroy responsibility. Responsibility is of two kinds -- to censure and to punishment. The first is the more important of the two, especially in an elective office. Man, in public trust, will much oftener act in such a manner as to render him unworthy of being any longer trusted, than in such a manner as to make him obnoxious to legal punishment. But the multiplication of the Executive adds to the difficulty of detection in either case. It often becomes impossible, amidst mutual accusations, to determine on whom the blame or the punishment of a pernicious measure, or series of pernicious measures, ought really to fall. It is shifted from one to another with so much dexterity, and under such plausible appearances, that the public opinion is left in suspense about the real author. The circumstances which may have led to any national miscarriage or misfortune are sometimes so complicated that, where there are a number of actors who may have had different degrees and kinds of agency, though we may clearly see upon the whole that there has been mismanagement, yet it may be impracticable to pronounce to whose account the evil which may have been incurred is truly chargeable.
"I was overruled by my council. The council were so divided in their opinions that it was impossible to obtain any better resolution on the point." These and similar pretexts are constantly at hand, whether true or false. And who is there that will either take the trouble or incur the odium, of a strict scrunity into the secret springs of the transaction? Should there be found a citizen zealous enough to undertake the unpromising task, if there happen to be collusion between the parties concerned, how easy it is to clothe the circumstances with so much ambiguity, as to render it uncertain what was the precise conduct of any of those parties?
The oath (keep in mind next week when we discuss Lincoln). Roberts screwed up:
The executive is different from the legislative branch:
1 v 535
Importance of history
The War Power
The president has a totally unchecked power to start a nuclear war. The process exists to authenticate the president's commands, not to challenge them.
Monday and Wednesday, 1-2 PM, and whenever I am in my office and not looking grumpy.
If these times are inconvenient, just make an appointment for an in-person or Zoom meeting.
Purpose of the Course
Few offices shape American life more than the presidency, and few have changed more radically. Recent presidents have stretched executive power in ways that would have surprised the Framers, while Congress, the courts, and the bureaucracy have responded unevenly. Executive orders, emergency powers, polarization, social media, and nonstop crises have transformed how presidents govern and how the public judges them. This course equips you to move beyond partisan reactions and social media narratives, giving you the analytical tools to understand what presidents can do, what they should do, and what the future of the office may hold.
This course will pose these questions:
How does the Constitution both empower and restrain the president?
How do the decisions and reputations of past presidents affect the choices of their successors?
How and why has power shifted between the White House and Congress?
How do presidents manage aides and agencies?
What does it take to win and keep the presidency?
How do presidents make high-stakes decisions on war, diplomacy, and domestic policy?
And where is the American presidency headed next?
By the end of the course, you should be able to analyze presidential power with precision, skepticism, and historical perspective, and to see beyond headlines to the institutional forces at work.
Classes
Class meetings combine lecture and discussion. Come prepared: completing the readings before class is essential, since discussion will assume familiarity with them.
We will also regularly connect course material to breaking news, so you should follow a high-quality daily news source such as Axios or Politico. Presidential power does not operate in a vacuum, and neither will this course.
Blog
Our class blog is at https://gov102.blogspot.com/. I will post videos, graphs, news stories, and supplemental material there throughout the semester. Some of this content will come up in class; the rest is there to deepen your understanding at your own pace.
You will receive an invitation to post on the blog (let me know if you don’t). I strongly encourage you to use it to:
Raise questions or comments about the readings before we discuss them in class;
Extend or challenge points from class discussions;
Share relevant news stories, data, or videos about Congress
Think of the blog as an extension of the classroom.
Grades
Your course grade will have these components:
Two four-page essays — 20% each
One three-page essay — 15%
One six-page essay — 30%
Participation and weekly reflections — 15%
The papers will sharpen your research, analytical, and writing skills. Writing quality matters. In grading, I will apply the principles of Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style. If you object to this standard, you should not take this course -- or any other course I teach.
In addition to the assigned readings, I may distribute documents, data, and links related to current events or background material. Your papers may draw on and analyze these sources.
Participation includes both in-class and online engagement. I will call on students at random. Frequent absences or lack of preparation will affect your grade. The goal is not to catch you unprepared, but to hone your ability to think clearly and respond effectively under pressure. This skill matters far beyond college.
Finally, by Thursday of each week, you will email me a brief reflection (no more than 250 words) responding to the readings and class discussions. These reflections will help you process the material and develop your own analytical voice.
Details
Check due dates for coursework. Do not plan on extensions.
As a courtesy to your fellow students, please arrive on time, and refrain from eating in class.
You may use AI to brainstorm, format graphs, and locate sources, but misrepresenting AI-generated content as your own original work constitutes plagiarism.
Your experience in this class matters to me, and I have a particular interest in disability. If you have set up accommodations with Accessibility Services at CMC, please tell me about your approved accommodations so we can discuss your needs. You can start by forwarding your accommodation letter to me. If you have not yet set up accommodations but have a temporary health condition or permanent disability, please email Ari Martinez, Associate Director of Accessibility Services, at accessibilityservices@cmc.edu to ask questions and start the process. For general information and the Request for Accommodations form, go to the CMC Accessibility Services website.
Required Book
George C. Edwards III, Kenneth R. Mayer, Stephen J. Wayne, Presidential Leadership: Politics and Policy Making, 13th ed. (Rowman and Littlefield/Bloomsbury, 2025).
"Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save." -- Psalm 146:3.
Jan 26, 28: Presidential Power
Hamilton: Mr. President, they will say you’re weak... Washington: No, they will see we’re strong... Hamilton: Your position is so unique... Washington: So I’ll use it to move them along.
-- Lin-Manuel Miranda, "One Last Time," in Hamilton
Feb 2, 4: Sprinting Through Presidential History, Part I
"Viewed from the genuine abolition ground, Mr. Lincoln seemed tardy, cold, dull, and indifferent; but measuring him by the sentiment of his country, a sentiment he was bound as a statesman to consult, he was swift, zealous, radical, and determined." -- Frederick Douglass
Feb 9, 11: Sprinting Through Presidential History, Part II
"Franklin Roosevelt was the first President I ever voted for, the first to serve in my lifetime that I regarded as a hero, and the first I ever actually saw." - Ronald Reagan
William Leuchtenberg, In the Shadow of FDR, 4th ed. (Cornell University Press, 2009), excerpts. ON CANVAS.
Gregory Frame, "The Myth of John F. Kennedy in Film and Television," Film & History (Winter 2016). ON CANVAS.
Douglas E. Schoen, The Nixon Effect: How Richard Nixon's Presidency Fundamentally Changed American Politics (New York: Encounter, 2016), excerpts ON CANVAS.
Feb 16, 18: Presidential Selection
"It’s not the voting that’s democracy; it’s the counting." -- Tom Stoppard
Peggy Noonan, What I Saw at the Revolution: A Political Life in the Reagan Era (New York: Random House, 1990), ch. 5. (on Canvas).
Four-page essay assigned Feb 23, due Mar 13.
Mar 2, 4: The Public Presidency II
"We once wrote, `This nation will prepare. We will not live in fear. We choose to fight them there, so we don't have to fight them here,' only to read it aloud and realize it sounded less like Winston Churchill than Dr. Seuss." -- Matthew Scully, on writing for George W. Bush
Edwards, ch. 6-7.
Mar. 9, 11: The Structure of the Presidency
"All vice presidents eat enormous bowls of feces. That's the job." -- Jonah Goldberg (P `25)
Edwards, ch. 8-9.
Mar 16: 18: Spring Break
Mar 23, 25: The Executive Branch
"[The] first opinion which one forms of a prince, and of his understanding, is by observing the men he has around him; and when they are capable and faithful he may always be considered wise, because he has known how to recognize the capable and to keep them faithful. But when they are otherwise one cannot form a good opinion of him, for the prime error which he made was in choosing them. -- Machiavelli
Edwards, ch. 10.
Mar 30, Apr 1: The President and Congress
"If Donald Trump says 'Jump three feet high and scratch your heads,' we all jump three feet high and scratch our heads." -- Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX)
"[T]he data suggests that in the 13 appellate courts, there is increasingly such a thing as a Trump judge. The president’s appointees voted to allow his policies to take effect 133 times and voted against them only 12 times. Ninety-two percent of their total votes were in favor of the administration." -- Mattathias Schwartz and Emma Schartz, NY Times
Edwards, ch. 12
Six-page paper due April 17.
Apr 13, 15: Foreign Policy and National Security I
President Obama: “On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this, this can be solved but it’s important for him to give me space… This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility.” President Medvedev: “I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir.”–Exchange between President Obama and Dmitri Medvedev, on hot mic, March 26, 2012
Apr 20, 22: Foreign Policy and National Security II
General Anthony Brady: "We've already lost one American city, sir. How many more do you want to risk?" POTUS: "What kind of f------ question is that? That's insanity, okay?" General Anthony Brady: "No, Mister President. That's reality." -- from A House of Dynamite
