Weaving insightful treatments of major transformations of the presidency into a lively narrative that encompasses every chief executive, Milkis and Nelson have written an essential history of the office. Still going strong after a quarter of a century, The American Presidency has been a favorite text for generations of my students.
-- Bruce Miroff
Milkis and Nelson's The American Presidency: Origins and Development, 1776-2014 is an outstanding introduction to the U.S. presidency. It is informative and crisply written. Students like it and it I find it very easy to teach from. It provides students the information they need on the history and development of the U.S. presidency in a format that is accessible without sacrificing intellectual rigor.
-- David E. Lewis
The Milkis and Nelson text is an excellent example of how to ground Political Science within an historical setting and create a narrative of institutional development. It strikes a good balance between the presidency as an institution occupied by a strong singular personality and the presidency as the executive power of an entire country, growing larger as the country does as well. The chapters, while focusing on the iconic presidents, also do an effective job of framing presidential challenges within themes, such as war powers, hurdles in dealing with the bureaucracy, fighting for (or losing) authority within the political system, etc. The choice to begin with creating the constitutional president and then working through a chronological succession is beneficial for students to grasp how the institution has changed over time and just as importantly, why it has.
-- Timothy Lindberg
I would not use anything else. Milkis and Nelson provide historical examples and interpretation of the important events in the history of the presidency and of how the presidency as an institution has changed over time. I don't think the book has any weaknesses. The writing is top notch. I've had only positive comments from students about the book.
-- Kenneth Stevens
