JAMES W. DAVIS is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Western Washington University. Davis has followed American presidents for more than 40 years as an observer and sometimes participant in the political process. In addition to the previous edition of The American Presidency (1987), he is the author of Presidential Primaries: Road to the White House, 2nd ed.(Greenwood, 1980), National Conventions in an Age of Party Reform (Greenwood, 1983) and (Greenwood, 1992). Several of his former students in Minnesota and Washington have served or are now serving on the staffs of governors or members of congress. He is currently working on a sourcebook on presidential primaries and the caucus-convention system (forthcomming from Greenwood).