Nixon's Business

Richard Nixon considered establishing a strong peacetime economy one of his most important political objectives, [not least for] distinguishing himself from the cautious policies of President Dwight Eisenhower. Using Richard Neustadts analytical framework of presidential power, Nigel Bowles develops five case studies around President Nixons economic policies. The thoughtful, insightful analysis goes far to help us understand the sources of Richard Nixons authority and power, and his use of both.For each of the issue-stories (as Bowles terms them), he considers the presidents bargaining advantages: his authority (constitutional and statutory), popular prestige, and personal qualities. He then answers Neustadts twin questions: What was the presidents inheritance? and What was his legacy?Bowless chosen cases represent fiscal policy, wage and price policy, international monetary policy, and domestic monetary policy. Through these analyses, Bowles offers new perspectives on Nixons use of authority and power; his dealings with and views of senior politicians and power-brokers; his ruthlessness and political ingenuity; the ways his experiences as congressman, senator, and vice president shaped his approach to the presidency; and his subordination of other objectives to his drive for re-election in 1972. He concludes that Nixon used the limited authority he had under the separation of powers to the fullest degree, often thereby augmenting his power in the short-term, but undermining it in the longer-term.Nixons Business is the first book to make systematic use of Neustadts crucial framework in understanding a specific presidency; the first to analyze empirically the components of Nixons authority and power; and the first to demonstrate the implications of both for understanding the institution of the United States presidency.