Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Dedication
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 A Theory of Positive Presidential Power
- 3 Case Study: Pushing President Bush's 2001 Tax Cut
- 4 Winning Key Votes, 1953–2004
- 5 Signing New Laws, 1953–2004
- 6 The Practice and Potential of Presidential Leadership
- Appendix: Archival Study Technical Details
- References
- Index
2 - A Theory of Positive Presidential Power
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Dedication
- Figures
- Tables
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 A Theory of Positive Presidential Power
- 3 Case Study: Pushing President Bush's 2001 Tax Cut
- 4 Winning Key Votes, 1953–2004
- 5 Signing New Laws, 1953–2004
- 6 The Practice and Potential of Presidential Leadership
- Appendix: Archival Study Technical Details
- References
- Index
Summary
Opportunities to host landmark signing ceremonies are highly prized inside the White House. Such auspicious occasions allow the president not just to help chart the nation's course against the day's most pressing problems but also to bask in the flattering glow of political achievement. And given the myriad of challenges the legislative process presents, perhaps it is forgivable that when Congress has passed their signature policy initiatives, one president after another has employed far more pageantry than required by the Constitution's modest demand that “he shall sign it.” After all, what president could pass up moments like these?
On a beautiful summer day in Harry Truman's hometown of Independence, Missouri, with Harry Truman at his side, President Lyndon Johnson signed into law Medicare, the historic health-care program Mr. Truman had first proposed more than a decade earlier. Introducing President Johnson, Truman declared: “Mr. President, I am glad to have lived this long and to witness today the signing of the Medicare bill which puts this Nation right where it needs to be, to be right. Your inspired leadership and a responsive forward-looking Congress have made it historically possible for this day to come about. Thank all of you most highly for coming here. It is an honor I haven't had for, well, quite awhile, I'll say that to you, but here it is: Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States” (30 July 1965).
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- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Pushing the AgendaPresidential Leadership in US Lawmaking, 1953–2004, pp. 27 - 67Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010