When George H. W. Bush took office in January 1989, he brought 
to the presidency an impressive résumé. A former member of 
Congress, national party leader, CIA director, ambassador to 
China, and two-term vice president, he had the credentials and 
experience for a uniquely successful presidency. Less than four 
years later, the American electorate resoundingly proclaimed his 
administration a failure. Many pundits and scholars have echoed 
the voters' judgment. In a considered and balanced reassessment, 
Ryan J. Barilleaux and Mark J. Rozell ask whether the public and 
the pundits have applied the wrong criteria of presidential 
evaluation.

    Looking at the context in which Bush came into office, 
Barilleaux and Rozell argue that his strategy of incrementalism 
may indeed have been right for the times and any failure may 
have lain only in Bush's inability to convince the public of that.
Moreover, the authors disagree with the common assessment 
that Bush pursued incrementalism only in domestic policy, 
arguing that it characterized his foreign policy as well.

    Power and Prudence is a study in presidential evaluation. It 
represents a challenge to the conventional wisdom that has 
developed on the first Bush administration and presents an 
important reinterpretation of the leadership of a poorly 
understood president. This thought-provoking analysis suggests 
that the circumstances of his presidency may have limited Bush's 
opportunities to articulate or achieve far-reaching policy 
objectives. These circumstances included the lack of an 
electoral mandate, Bush's succession to a very popular and 
ideological leader, his inheritance of a daunting budget deficit,
and the situation of divided government.

    The authors' interpretation of the Bush administration is 
supported by interviews with members of Bush's White House
staff and the limited archival record thus far opened to scholars.
A detailed read into the workings of a contemporary presidency, 
Power and Prudence will appeal to presidential scholars as well 
as the politically minded reader.

_________________________________________________________

RYAN J. BARILLEAUX is professor and chair of the Department of 
Political Science at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. MARK J. 
ROZELL is professor of Public Policy at George Mason University 
in Washington, D.C.


The Presidency and Leadership, A Joseph V. Hughes, Jr., and
Holly O. Hughes Book


What people are saying about this book

". . . what Barilleaux and Rozell have accomplished is a matrix 
for future researchers."—Herbert S. Parmet, City University of
New York

". . . an extremely valuable contribution not only to our 
understanding of the first Bush presidency, but also to our 
thinking about how to evaluate presidential performance in 
general."—John Dumbrell, Keele University, and author, The 
Carter Presidency: A Reevaluation