Presidential Power Meets the Art of the Deal: Applying Neustadt to the Trump Presidency

148 Pages·2021·2.436 MB·English

by  Todd M. Schaefer

Presidential Power
Meets the
Art of the Deal
Applying Neustadt to
the Trump Presidency
Todd M. Schaefer
The Evolving American Presidency
Series Editors
Michael A. Genovese
Loyola Marymount University
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Todd L. Belt
Graduate School of Political Management
George Washington University
Washington, DC, USA
This series is stimulated by the clash between the presidency as invented
and the presidency as it has developed. Over time, the presidency has
evolvedandgrowninpower,expectations,responsibilities,andauthority.
Addingtothepowerofthepresidencyhavebeenwars,crises,depressions,
industrialization. The importance and power of the modern presidency
makes understanding it so vital. How presidents resolve challenges and
paradoxesofhighexpectationswithlimitedconstitutionalresourcesisthe
central issue in modern governance and the central theme of this book
series.
More information about this series at
http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14437
Todd M. Schaefer
Presidential Power
Meets the Art
of the Deal
Applying Neustadt to the Trump Presidency
Todd M. Schaefer
Department of Political Science
Central Washington University
Ellensburg, WA, USA
The Evolving American Presidency
ISBN 978-3-030-56028-7 ISBN 978-3-030-56029-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56029-4
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer
Nature Switzerland AG 2021
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the
Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights
of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and
retrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodology
now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc.
in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such
namesareexemptfromtherelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreefor
general use.
Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinforma-
tion in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither
the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with
respecttothematerialcontainedhereinorforanyerrorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeen
made.Thepublisherremainsneutralwithregardtojurisdictionalclaimsinpublishedmaps
and institutional affiliations.
Cover illustration: © Melisa Hasan
This Palgrave Pivot imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Preface and Acknowledgments
Probably like most Americans, and nearly all political scientists, I was
shocked at Donald Trump’s victory on election night, 2016. I assumed
his extreme inexperience would not only hurt him directly with voters,
but would also hamper him in employing effective campaign strategy
and tactics. Clearly, like other “know it all” elites Trump disdains, my
perceptions were off.
As Trump took office, I similarly wondered how such a political
neophyte, and one with his temperament, would do the job. Like others,
too, I was absorbed by the drama of his presidency, but also became
convinced there was a story to tell from the perspective of my field to
make sense of the confusing daily picture. I began seeing patterns and
examplesthatfitpreceptsRichardNeustadt,themostprominentmodern
scholar of the office, had enunciated. But there were other aspects about
Trump’s experience that defied explanation. The ultimate result of those
ponderings is this book.
As it seems bringing any scholarly project to fruition is metaphorically
atasksomewhatakintoraisingachildtoadulthood,likewiseitseemsthat
“it takes a village” to do so, as one of Hillary Clinton’s favorite sayings
goes. I and this book benefited greatly from the assistance of others.
First, thanks to some participants at the Midwest Political Science
Association meeting where I first presented a much shorter and rougher
version of this work. Prof. Anne Pluta gave me some helpful initial food
for thought, some of which I ate, and Prof. Shannon Bow O’Brien had
v
vi PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
good things to say about working with Palgrave, once she coincidentally
found out I was talking with them at the meeting about this project.
In related fashion, I sincerely thank the blind reviewer Palgrave
employed for their patience and diligence in reading two drafts of this
manuscript. Their remarks about alternative views, particularly about
Neustadt’s place in the field relative to other scholars, as well as critiques
ofmystyle,etc.,forcedmetoaddresscertainaspectsthatmadethework
better, as ideally good peer review should.
Also, heartfelt thanks to Emeritus Prof. Tom Cronin, in whose class
I first encountered Neustadt’s ideas, and who indirectly through his
example got me into a career studying and teaching about politics. In
addition to his mentorship over the years, he also read both my confer-
encepaperandadraftofthisbookandprovidedhelpfuladviceIprobably
only partially heeded.
Professor Thomas Patterson—who for his part, gave me encouraging
words on the work that became my first published article decades ago—
also showed an interest in the original work, which reinforced my belief
about pursuing it in book form.
Studentsalsoplayedavaluableroleinthecreationofthiswork.Those
in my presidency, media and politics, and even US government courses
stimulated me to think about some of these ideas and how to convey
them to a broader audience. More importantly, I thank Bianca Ortiz-
Pallen, a senior political science major at Central Washington University,
for editing and reading much of the manuscript, finding or at least iden-
tifying citations, and doing some of her own research on unilateral exec-
utive actions. She gave me needed clarity and “message reality checks” at
times. Her positive attitude toward doing such mundane tasks on top of
her other studies and rugby training was admirable.
Of course I must acknowledge the assistance of the editorial staff at
Palgrave Macmillan. Michelle Chen both “recruited” me by being inter-
estedinthetopic,andbyguidingmetothePivotoptionandtheapproval
process. Rebecca Roberts then oversaw the further development. Their
patienceandalwayssunnydemeanormademyeffortsalittlelessstressful
and kept me on track.
Finally,Iowethebiggestdebttomywife,KathyAllen,forkeepingme
sane through diversions and supporting me even though it wasn’t always
convenient.Iamtrulygratefulfor herunderstandinginleavingmealone
for hours, my changing attitudes around this project, and for listening to
PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii
my rants about Trump. The latter was doubly hard after the pandemic as
she was my captive audience; I couldn’t have done this without her.
And I thank you, the reader, for picking up this book. Here is hoping
we can all go back to something resembling a regular life, whether with
or without Trump as president.
Ellensburg, USA Todd M. Schaefer
Contents
1 Introduction: Trump’s Presidency; Neustadt’s Model 1
2 The Trump Record so Far: Are We Tired of Winning
Yet? 11
3 Making Sense of the Trump Presidency Through
Neustadt’s Presidential Power 23
4 Three Cases of Catastrophe 41
5 “No Place for Amateurs”: Trump as Decider
and Administrator-in-Chief 57
6 Surviving at the Top?: Trump’s Buoyancy
and Perseverance in Defiance of Neustadt’s Model 79
7 TrumpingNeustadt?:AnAlteredPoliticalEnvironment
Helps No. 45 89
8 Conclusion: What Trump’s Presidency Teaches Us
About Presidential Power (and Presidential Power) 109
ix
x CONTENTS
Postscript on Covid-19 Crisis 121
Name Index 133
Place, Events and Subject Index 137
Subject Index 139