The Cult of the Presidency

"""'Cult' is precisely the word, because the president's omnibus job description requires above all that he serve as high priest in America's civil religion. Healy's argument for restoring the presidency to its constitutional limits is as persuasive as his argument for why we, the people, will probably never permit it.""--Walter A. McDougall, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author of The Tragedy of U.S. Foreign Policy: How American Civil Religion Betrayed the National Interest ""Gene Healy's well-researched, lucidly written historical overview of the American presidency could not be timelier with Americans about to elect a new president. This study provides a reality check for where we should not want future presidents to go.""--John W. Dean, former Nixon White House counsel and author of Blind Ambition: The White House Years ""It's more than just a guide to why you shouldn't expect too much from the executive: It's a history of how we've come to view the president as central to not only our politics but our national conception of self. Its emphasis on the limitations of the president is as relevant to those who seek to make the state work better as to those who seek to imprison it. Moreover, Healy is a graceful, funny, and fluid writer.""--Ezra Klein, New York Times columnist ""Popular perceptions often thoughtlessly equate activist presidents with great ones. Gene Healy makes a compelling case that the opposite proposition lies closer to the truth. In this thorough historical analysis, Healy lays bare the deeper risks of an expansionist view of the presidency.""--Richard A. Epstein, Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law at New York University School of Law and author of The Classical Liberal Constitution: The Uncertain Quest for Limited Government ""Rhetorical--and related--excesses are inherent in the modern presidency. This is so for reasons brilliantly explored in the year's most pertinent and sobering public affairs book, 'The Cult of the Presidency.'""--George F. Will, Washington Post columnist ""This splendid book provides the best account yet of how the Imperial Presidency, abetted by Democrats and Republicans alike, came to pose a clear and present danger to our republic.""--Andrew J. Bacevich, professor emeritus of international relations and history at Boston University and author of Washington Rules: America's Path to Permanent War"