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The American National Election Studies (ANES) is a scholarly database with everything. You need to register to use it (just info; no cost), and then create a password. There is a ton here, so it may require some playing around to find what you’re looking for.

Use These for References to Voting in this election and past elections

· 270 to Win (info on presidential elections)

· Dave Leip’s Atlas of US Presidential Elections The best info on every US presidential election and more

Sites with Coverage from All Perspectives

· Real Clear Politics links to articles from everywhere

· Politico comprehensive coverage of political events

Possible the two most important sites that exist (These examine claims made by politicians, candidates, and pundits. Are they true or are they half-truths, or are they complete lies. It also checks media stories and official pronouncements of the president and congress)

· Fact Check.Org From the Annenberg Center at the University of Pennsylvania

· PolitiFact.com From several newspapers

· The Fact Checker From the Washington Post

· Snopes.com (fact checking and debunking urban legends and internet hoaxes that are often about politics)

Reference

· Presidential Libraries

· Statistical Abstract of the United States (US Census Bureau compilation of statistics on social and economic conditions in the US)

· Charts on Presidential Approval Ratings (from Wall Street Journal; composites of several polling organizations)

Links to sources on the Impeachment and Trial (maybe) of President Trump

Introduction

The presidency is a huge topic. Recognizing this, the course will take a sweeping look at the US Presidency, arguably the single most powerful office in the history of the planet. Getting a handle on the presidency is a difficult, if not impossible job. Probably the best way to start learning about the subject is to think of the US presidency as the nexus of three streams: (1) the times -- the ebb and flow of American political culture, national trends, and international historical forces; (2) the presidency -- the office and powers of the institution as it has evolved from the US Constitution to the media-focused, celebrity Presidency of the 1980s and 1990s; and (3) The president -- the character, vision, strengths and weaknesses of the man or woman who occupies the Oval Office. As these three streams come together the political history of the nation is shaped. The US has been called a "Presidential Nation." It is in the office of the presidency where the US people have decided to place power time and again. In the historical grappling for power between the president and Congress the US people have continually sided with the president. It is the place where we look for leadership, and direction. The person who occupies that office is given a stature like no other. (Has anyone seen any monuments to senators or representatives?) The president gets too much credit when things go well and too much blame when things go wrong. For better or worse, the president has become the embodiment of the nation, and therefore, his or her character, personal habits and infirmities become the stuff of national obsession, and national security. (During the 1980s, the polyps on Ronald Reagan's colon received more media attention than the workings of the Federal Reserve.)

The office of the president is the repository of the greatest powers in the land, not just in terms of physical power (the authority to use military force, even nuclear weapons), but moral power -- the ability to shift the ethical standards of a nation and to influence, if not define, the national mood. Our presidential elections often focus on issues of personal character, not issues of economic, social or foreign policy. We seem to be choosing not simply someone to run the country, but someone to represent us -- half-prime minister, half-monarch. Our choices see to depend on the national mood.

One of the key issues in the study of the presidency focuses on what really accounts for presidential decisions. Those who have an institutional perspective believe that the president is no match for the political pressures of congress, the political environment, and the American people. He responds to them in ways that try to preserve his power by using his own institutional powers. Every president will react roughly the same to the same institutional forces. The other perspective, often called the persuasion or bargaining model, sees leadership of the president as the key determinant of decisions. The president matters -- his character, his leadership style, his political skills.

This is the central point we should focus on: Is it possible for a president to "succeed" in "modern" times? What do I mean by "succeed?" It is best to take ideological judgments out of the definition of success. We should not try to define success subjectively -- in terms of individual political goals that those on one side or the other of the political spectrum might have, such as reducing poverty through government action or shrinking the size of the welfare state. Using these notions as the judgment of success would lead to endless debate about the purposes of government from a partisan point of view. We’ll probably have a little bit of that, but we don't want it to dominate the course. It is better to try for some scholarly objectivity, by defining success in the following manner -- did the president achieve what he set out to do? Whether you, as an individual, shared the goals of one president or another, is irrelevant to this question. Analytically, the focus should be upon how successful was any president in attaining the goals that he sets for himself.

By the "modern" presidency I refer to the presidency as it has been defined since Franklin Roosevelt. It is FDR who, with the help of national crises of the Depression and WW II, transformed the presidency into the focus of power that it is today. He also raised expectations so high that it is doubtful that any president can meet those expectations for any length of time. Can the job be done? That is what we will focus on during the course of the semester. We will examine the powers of the presidency, the men who have held the office and the shifting demands that our political culture places on both the office and the individual.

We, of course, will look at how the last few presidencies operated (Bush 43, Obama, and Trump) and we’ll also spend a lot of time examining how President Trump seems to be shattering some of the established norms of the presidency.

Some of the issues we will discuss include: The Presidency and the Constitution; Presidential Character; The Roosevelt Revolution; "The Personal Presidency;" Presidential Management Styles; Bureaucracy, Organizations, and Presidential Power; The "Imperial Presidency" and Foreign Policy; The White House Staff and its power; Watergate and the abuse of power; The post-Watergate Presidency; The Reagan Revolution; The President and the media; Presidential Campaigns; Expectations of the President; Image making; Shifting Coalitions in Presidential Voting; Red and Blue America; And more, other issues you might bring up.

Texts: You need to read them; you don't need to buy them. There is a lot of reading for this course, but it is fun reading. I've tried to keep the dry political science textbook style to a minimum. I've assigned mostly journalistic accounts that are entertaining and educational. The books are available at the Virginia Book Company, BookHolders, and the VCU Bookstore. Some of them may be found also at the large chain bookstores in town (Borders, Barnes and Noble). You might find them there at a discount. If anyone has problems getting access to the texts, for any reason, let me know as soon as possible so you don't get too far behind in the reading. You may find these texts other places; be sure you get an edition of the text that includes everything that is in the edition I have assigned. Some of these books have been placed on reserve.

Assigned Texts:

· Jeremi Suri. The Impossible Presidency (New York: Basic Books, 2017) (On Reserve at Cabell Library: JK516 .S84 2017)

· Doris Kearns Goodwin. Leadership In Turbulent Times (New York: Simon and Shuster, 2019) (On reserve at Cabell Library; there is no call number; the book is my copy; you can ask for it by title or author)

· Chris Whipple. The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency (New York: Broadway Books, 2018) (On Reserve at Cabell Library: JK552 .W55 2017)

· Ronald Brownstein. The Second Civil War (New York: Penguin Books, 2007) (On Reserve at Cabell Library: JK2261 .B84 2007)

· Charlie Sykes. How the Right Lost Its Mind (New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2018) (On Reserve at Cabell Library: JC573.2.U6 S95 2017)

Grading System: Grades will be determined through the following:

Exam One

March 5

30% of the grade

Research Paper

April 23

Optional rough drafts can be submitted up until April 16

35% of the grade

Exam Two

May 7: 8:00 AM to 10:50 AM

Note the time change

35% of the grade

How do you calculate your grade? Use the percentages from the above table. So, if you received the following grades, you would calculate your grades in the following manner:

Exam One: 92, at 30% of the grade; that’s 92 multiplied by .30 = 27.6
Research Paper: 89, at 35% of the grade; that’s 89 multiplied by .35 = 31.15
Exam Two: 90, at 35% of the grade; that’s 90 multiplied by .35 = 31.5
To get the final grade, add up all the scores: 27.6 + 31.15 + 31.5 = 90.6. Congratulations you got an A.

I give you this very detailed formula for a number of reasons. You should never be unaware of what your class average is. You can calculate it at any point in the semester. If your grade is not what you'd like it to be, you should know, and you should come see me about it. Please don’t wait to come to my office hours until after the final exam and say then tell me that you're having trouble in the class. It's too late at that point; there’s nothing that I’d be able to do to help at that point. But any time in the semester that you feel you are having trouble, or not doing as well as you feel you should, come talk to me. During my office hours and by appointment I am happy to talk to you about the class

Grading scale: I use a typical scale: A = 90-100; B = 80-89; C = 70-79; D = 55-69. Borderline grades are considered in the following manner.

· If your grade is 69.5, 79.5, or 89.5 or higher, then you may be a candidate for a round up to the higher grade (Notice those numbers in the sentence; do not ask for a higher grade if your average is a 68 or 78 or 88 or lower; those are not borderline averages).

· You may become a candidate if your grades are borderline and if your grades have been going up during the semester.

· That means that if you are borderline, but your last exam is lower than the previous exams (you are between a B and C, but your third exam is a C for example), you will probably get the lower grade.

· If you are borderline, and your last exam is higher than the previous exams (you are between a B and C, but your third exam is a B), you will probably get the higher grade.

· Another factor I consider is the typical grade you receive. Let’s say we have three grades for the class and two are grades of B and one is a C (bad day) and your average is a 79.6, you are a candidate for receiving a B. If you have three grades and two grades are grades of C and one is a grade of B, you are probably not candidate for a round up to the next grade.

· There is no extra credit for this class. Please do not ask.

One more thing: The withdrawal date is March 20

EXAMS: The exams will be short answer and essay. One week before the exam I will place a review sheet on line, linked to this syllabus, below this paragraph. This review sheet should be used as your study guide for the exam. The review sheet will include some terms that are from the readings only, so that you can go back and review those items from the readings. Once you have the review sheet, feel free to ask me questions about the terms. This is the best way to study for the exam. If you understand the terms on the review sheet, you can define each one and see how each one relates to the larger concepts and issues we've discussed in class, you should do just fine on the exam. The exams will consist of short answer/identifications and one essay. I will give more details on the exams in class as we approach the first exam.

Review One

Research Paper: Follow this link for information. The paper will be a 10-12 page research paper. The paper is due April 23. You may turn in an outline, rough draft, partial paper, whatever, for review up until one week before the paper is due (April 16). This is optional, just something to help you out if you have questions. The following instructions are important. Please pay attention to them. If you don't you will wind up hurting your grade:

· LATE PAPERS: The late penalty is ten points per day, meaning that after class begins your paper, if a 95, is now an 85, after two days it is a 75, after three it is a 65, and so on down to zero.

I will not accept email submissions of the paper; you must give me a hard copy at the beginning of class the day the paper is due. The reasons for this are simple:

Students have abused this privilege in the past by telling me they sent the paper in on time by email, but that for some reason I didn’t receive it – thereby giving themselves an extra day or two for the paper while we figure out why the email was lost
The only way to prevent number 1 is for me to send an email to everyone to confirm that I received their paper and an email to everyone from whom I did not receive a paper. That is simply unfair; it asks me to do extra work because the student didn’t feel like showing up to class to turn the paper in. And…
You should be coming to class anyway

Talk to me if you are having some family or personal problems. If there is a serious need to get an extension on the paper, I will give you an extension. I do realize that there are more important things in life than this class and this assignment. So if you run into a problem, talk to me.

Computer problems do not count as a problem that warrants an extension. If you are writing your paper at the last minute and you have a problem, the moral of the story is that you should not have been writing your paper at the last minute.
If you have a printer problem, come to my office hours before the paper is due and we'll print up the paper at my office.

Attendance and Class Behavior

First, I will be passing out an attendance sheet each class period. I have noticed the past few semesters that some students feel class attendance is optional. They feel that way until they get back their first exam then they want to do extra credit to get their grade back up. The simple answer is: be there the first time. Second, you may use computers in class to take notes. However, that is all you should be doing with your computer – taking notes. If you surf the web, check your facebook page or play Angry Birds etc, you will be disrupting other students in the class. They can see your computer. This qualifies as the type of class behavior that can result in your removal from the class.

COURSE AND READING SCHEDULE

(page numbers are included as necessary; if there are no page numbers, it means read the entire chapter)

The following are some fun or useful PPT slideshows. Take a look if you’re interested. They are not required; none of the material will be on a test.

President’s Park PPT

Being a Good Political Consumer

Presidential Library Tour

Week 1: January 13-17: Introduction

Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report on Impeachment Process (Online)

Politifact Timeline of Impeachment Investigation

Articles of Impeachment against President Trump

Trump Impeachment

Week 2: January 20-24: Origins of the Presidency

Suri, Introduction and Chapters 1-2

Read the Constitution

· Official US Government Printing Office version

· National Archives original text annotated version (with links to changes in the constitution)

Introduction PPT

Brief Social Media and Politics

Week 3: January 27-31: The Pre-Modern Presidency I

Suri, Chapter 3

Goodwin, Chapters 1 and 5 and 9

Pre-Modern Presidents PPT

Week 4: February 3-7: The Pre-Modern Presidency II

Goodwin, Chapters 2, 6, and 10

Week 5: February 10-14: The Roosevelt Legacy: and How Truman, Ike, and JFK Followed Precedent

Goodwin, Chapters 3, 7, and 11

FDR PPT

Leadership, Management, Advising PPT

Week 6: February 17-21: LBJ and the Power of Persuasion

Goodwin, Chapters 4, 8, and 12

LBJ PPT

Week 7: February 24-28: Nixon’s Rise and Fall

Brownstein, Chapter 1 and Chapter 4 pages 93-127

Whipple, Introduction, Chapter 1

Nixon PPT

Scandals Comparison

Week 8: March 2-6: Watergate

No Readings

Exam 1: March 5

Spring Break: March 8-15: No Class

Week 9: March 16-20: The Post-Watergate Presidency and Reagan Realignment

Whipple, Chapters 2-3

Brownstein, Chapter 4 pages 127-136.

Suri, Chapter 8

Carter PPT

Reagan PPT

Withdrawal Date March 20

Week 10: March 23-27: The Reagan Realignment continued

Whipple, Chapters 4 and 5

Brownstein, Chapter 5

Week 11: March 30-April 3: The 1990s: Bush 41 and Clinton

Brownstein, Chapter 6

Whipple, Chapter 6 and 7

Bush 41

Clinton

Week 12: April 6-10: Bush 43, and Polarization

Suri, Chapter 9

Brownstein, Chapter 7 and 8 (pages 263-297)

Bush 43

Week 13: April 13-17: Bush 43, Obama, and Presidential Power

Last Day for Turning in optional rough drafts April 16

Sykes, Introduction, Chapters 1-8

Obama

Week 14: April 20-24: The Trump Presidency I

Paper Due April 23 (at the beginning of class in hard copy)

Sykes, Chapters 9-10

Trump

Week 15: April 28: The Trump Presidency II

Sykes, Chapters 11-17

Exam 2: May 7, same room, 8:00 AM to 10:50 AM Notice the time change!!!

VCU Policies

Class registration required for attendance

Students may attend only those classes for which they have registered. Faculty may not add students to class rosters or Blackboard. Therefore, if students are attending a class for which they have not registered, they must stop attending.

Honor System: upholding academic integrity

The VCU Honor System policy describes the responsibilities of students, faculty and administration in upholding academic integrity, while at the same time respecting the rights of individuals to the due process offered by administrative hearings and appeals. According to this policy, "Members of the academic community are required to conduct themselves in accordance with the highest standards of academic honesty, ethics and integrity at all times." In addition, “To support a commitment to the Honor System, all members of the VCU community are required to:

· Adhere to the Honor System policy and its procedures;

· Report any suspicion or knowledge of possible violations of the Honor System;

· Answer truthfully when called upon to do so regarding Honor System matters;

· Maintain appropriate confidentiality regarding related to Honor System matters."

More information can be found at in the VCU policy library.

Managing stress

Students may experience situations or challenges that can interfere with learning and interpersonal functioning including stress, anxiety, depression, alcohol and/or other drug use, concern for a friend or family member, loss, sleep difficulties, feeling hopeless or relationship problems. There are numerous campus resources available to students including University Counseling Services (804-828-6200 MPC Campus, 804-828-3964 MCV Campus), University Student Health Services (MPC 804 828-8828, MCV Campus 804 828-9220) and the Wellness Resource Center (804-828-9355). 24 hour emergency mental health support is available by calling 828-1234 and asking to speak to the on-call therapist or utilizing the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-784-2433).

Mandatory responsibility of faculty members to report incidents of sexual misconduct

It is important for students to know that all faculty members are mandated reporters of any incidents of sexual misconduct/violence (e.g., sexual assault, sexual exploitation and partner or relationship violence). This means that faculty cannot keep information about sexual misconduct/violence confidential if you share that information with them and they must report this information immediately to the university's Title IX Coordinator. In addition, department chairs, deans, and other unit administrators are required to report incidents of sex or gender-based discrimination to the university's Title IX Coordinator. Once a report is made, you will receive important information on your reporting options, on campus and off campus resources and remedial measures such as no-contact directives, residence modifications, and academic modifications. If you would prefer to speak with someone confidentially for support and to discuss your options for reporting, contact:

VCU's Wellness Resource Center 804.828.9355 | myoptions@vcu.edu | thewell.vcu.edu

Greater Richmond Regional Hotline (Community program) 804.612.6126 | 24-hour hotline

VCU’s Counseling Services 804-828-6200

For more information on how to help, please click here. The Policy on Sexual Misconduct/Violence and Sex/Gender Discrimination, can be found in the VCU policy library. For more information about the University's Title IX process, please visit equity.vcu.edu.

Student conduct in the classroom

According to the Faculty Guide to Student Conduct in Instructional Settings, "The university is a community of learners. Students, as well as faculty, have a responsibility for creating and maintaining an environment that supports effective instruction. In order for faculty members (including graduate teaching assistants) to provide and students to receive effective instruction in classrooms, laboratories, studios, online courses, and other learning areas, the university expects students to conduct themselves in an orderly and cooperative manner." Among other things, cell phones should be turned off while in the classroom. The Student Code of Conduct also prohibits the possession of or carrying of any weapon. For more information see http://register.dls.virginia.gov/details.aspx?id=3436.

Students with disabilities

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended, require that VCU provide "academic adjustments" or "reasonable accommodations" to any student who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity. To receive accommodations, students must register with the Office of Student Accessibility and Educational Opportunity on the Monroe Park Campus (828-2253) or the Division for Academic Success on the MCV campus (828-9782). Please also visit the Student Accessibility and Educational Opportunity website and/or the Division for Academic Success website for additional information. Once students have completed the registration process, they should schedule a meeting with their instructor (s) and provide their instructor (s) with an official accommodation letter. Accommodation letters will outline the required classroom accommodations.

Faculty communication about students

VCU instructional faculty, administrators and staff maintain confidentiality of student records and disclose information in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). This means that VCU officials may disclose student record information without the consent of the student in certain situations. To support university operations, for example, VCU officials share information about students with other educational officials as necessary to perform their job duties. FERPA permits this disclosure to school officials who have a legitimate educational interest in the student information. In addition, VCU officials have obligations to report information shared by a student depending on the content of that information, for example, in compliance with VCU’s policy on the duty to report (policy.vcu.edu). Unless FERPA permits a certain disclosure, VCU generally requires consent from a student to disclose information from their education record to another individual. You may find additional information on the VCU FERPA website: http://rar.vcu.edu/records/family-educational-rights-and-privacy-act/.