Presidential Party Building : : Dwight D. Eisenhower to George W. Bush / / Daniel J. Galvin.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter DG and UP eBook Package 2000-2015
• VerfasserIn: Galvin, Daniel J.,
• Place / Publishing House: Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2009]; ©2010
• Year of Publication: 2009
• Edition: Course Book
• Language: English
• Series: Princeton Studies in American Politics: Historical, International, and Comparative Perspectives ; 108
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (368 p.) :; 12 line illus. 8 tables.

Modern presidents are usually depicted as party "predators" who neglect their parties, exploit them for personal advantage, or undercut their organizational capacities. Challenging this view, Presidential Party Building demonstrates that every Republican president since Dwight D. Eisenhower worked to build his party into a more durable political organization while every Democratic president refused to do the same. Yet whether they supported their party or stood in its way, each president contributed to the distinctive organizational trajectories taken by the two parties in the modern era. Unearthing new archival evidence, Daniel Galvin reveals that Republican presidents responded to their party's minority status by building its capacities to mobilize voters, recruit candidates, train activists, provide campaign services, and raise funds. From Eisenhower's "Modern Republicanism" to Richard Nixon's "New Majority" to George W. Bush's hopes for a partisan realignment, Republican presidents saw party building as a means of forging a new political majority in their image. Though they usually met with little success, their efforts made important contributions to the GOP's cumulative organizational development. Democratic presidents, in contrast, were primarily interested in exploiting the majority they inherited, not in building a new one. Until their majority disappeared during Bill Clinton's presidency, Democratic presidents eschewed party building and expressed indifference to the long-term effects of their actions. Bringing these dynamics into sharp relief, Presidential Party Building offers profound new insights into presidential behavior, party organizational change, and modern American political development.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- 1. Introduction: A Common Half- Truth -- 2. A Theory Of Presidential Party Building -- Part I: The Republicans -- 3. Building a Modern Republican Party: Dwight D. Eisenhower -- 4. Building the New Majority: Richard Nixon -- 5. The Politics of Addition: Gerald R. Ford -- 6. Building the Republican Base: Ronald Reagan -- 7. Leveling the Playing Field: George H. W. Bush -- Part II: The Democrats -- 8. Operation Support: John F. Kennedy -- 9. The President's Club: Lyndon B. Johnson -- 10. Alternative Priorities: Jimmy Carter -- 11. Culmination and Reversal: Bill Clinton -- 12. Conclusion: Presidents, Parties, and the Political System -- Afterword: George W. Bush and Beyond -- Appendix: Methods and Sources -- Abbreviations -- Notes -- Index