Mark J. Rozell - Religion and the American Presidency

This series is stimulated by the clash between the presidency as invented and the presidency as it has developed. Over time, the presidency has evolved and grown in power, expectations, responsibilities, and authority. Adding to the power of the presidency have been wars, crises, depressions, industrialization. The importance and power of the modern presidency makes understanding it so vital. How presidents resolve challenges and paradoxes of high expectations with limited constitutional resources is the central issue in modern governance and the central theme of this book series.

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The American presidency touches virtually every aspect of American and world politics. And the presidency has become, for better or worse, the vital center of the American and global political systems. The framers of the American government would be dismayed at such a result. As invented at the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention in 1787, the presidency was to have been a part of the government with shared and overlapping powers, embedded within a separation-of-powers system. If there was a vital center, it was the Congress; the presidency was to be a part, but by no means, the centerpiece of that system.

Over time, the presidency has evolved and grown in power, expectations, responsibilities, and authority. Wars, crises, depressions, industrialization, all served to add to the power of the presidency. And as the USA grew into a world power, presidential power also grew. As the USA became the world's leading superpower, the presidency rose in prominence and power, not only in the USA, but also on the world stage as well.

It is the clash between the presidency as created and the presidency as it has developed that inspired this series. And it is the importance and power of the modern American presidency that makes understanding the office so vital. Like it or not, the American presidency stands at the vortex of power both within the USA and across the globe.

This Palgrave series recognizes that the presidency is and has been an evolving institution, going from the original constitutional design as a chief clerk, to today where the president is the center of the American political constellation. This has caused several key dilemmas in our political system, not the least of which is that presidents face high expectations with limited constitutional resources. This causes presidents to find extraconstitutional means of governing. Thus, presidents must find ways to bridge the expectations/power gap while operating within the confines of a separation-of-powers system designed to limit presidential authority. How presidents resolve these challenges and paradoxes is the central issue in modern governance. It is also the central theme of this book series.

The Second Term of George W. Bush

edited by Robert Maranto, Douglas M. Brattebo, and Tom Lansford

The Presidency and the Challenge of Democracy

edited by Michael A. Genovese and Lori Cox Han

Religion and the American Presidency

edited by Mark J. Rozell and Gleaves Whitney

Religion and the Bush Presidency

edited by Mark J. Rozell and Gleaves Whitney

Test by Fire: The War Presidency of George W. Bush by Robert Swansbrough

American Royalty: The Bush and Clinton Families and the Danger to the American Presidency

by Matthew T. Corrigan

Accidental Presidents: Death, Assassination, Resignation, and Democratic Succession by Philip Abbott

Presidential Power in Action: Implementing Supreme Court Detainee Decisions by Darren A. Wheeler

President George W. Bushs Influence over Bureaucracy and Policy: Extraordinary Times, Extraordinary Powers

edited by Colin Provost and Paul Teske Assessing George W. Bushs Legacy: The Right Man?

edited by Iwan Morgan and Philip John Davies Acting Presidents: 100 Years of Plays about the Presidency

by Bruce E. Altschuler

America Responds to Terrorism: Conflict Resolution Strategies of Clinton, Bush, and Obama

by Karen A. Feste

Presidents in the Movies: American History and Politics on Screen edited by Iwan W. Morgan

Watergate Remembered: The Legacy for American Politics edited by Michael A. Genovese and Iwan W. Morgan

The first edition of this book (2007) appeared during the second term of the George W. Bush presidency. At the time, there was enormous interest in the intersection of religion and US national policy. Many political observers attributed the rise in interest in the subject uniquely to the faith of President Bush. Through a collection of scholarly papers covering religion and the presidency all the way back to the George Washington administration, we set out to show that religion has been an enduring influence on the decisions and policies of many of the chief executives of the USA. We continued that work with an updated second edition (2012) during the second term of the Barack Obama presidency.