The 20th-century presidency can be defined by its growing accretion of power, argues Graubard, longtime Daedalus
editor and Brown University historian emeritus. America's then controversial, presidentially led interventions in WWI and WWII required new extensions of the office's powers; the Cold War era of "permanent" Soviet threat and Vietnam-related secrecy amplified them; and Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, he says, added spin and deception to the mix. George W. Bush thus assumed an office whose powers are exponentially greater than anything envisioned by the Founding Fathers, subject to correspondingly limited checks and balances. The result, according to Graubard, is a White House increasingly sealed off from the public its occupant ostensibly serves. In acerbic, elegantly written critiques of successive administrations, he depicts presidencies that are increasingly responsive primarily to their particular internal dynamic. The chapter on Clinton (titled "The Rake's Progress") is a particularly effective analysis of a chief executive who "looked for new maps but never found them." George W. Bush is characterized as a poseur whose combination of hubris and ignorance may have done lasting damage to the U.S. at home and abroad. While readers may challenge his interpretations, Graubard's America, transformed by the "kings, courtiers, and warriors" of its 20th-century executive branch, merits wide and careful attention. Author tour. (Nov. 2)
