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9781412853637

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This is a troubling book, the more so because of its intelligence and the broad consultation that informs its arguments. It is a work of rich and penetrating scholarship, and it makes a vigorous case for reconceptualizing post-New Deal changes in the presidency. . . . Langston tangles with some tough questions here, and his thoughtfulness is in constant evidence. . . . One of the best things about this interesting book is that it helps us to see more clearly the pattern of change occurring in the post-war presidency as a consequence of the deterioration of political parties. . . . In the modern presidency ideas are important, but their value is heavily determined by their marketability. Langston argues that the time has come for ideologues in the modern presidency, that 'people of ideas are here to stay.' --G. Calvin Mackenzie, Congress & The Presidency Regardless of how one feels about its legacy, the presidency of Ronald Reagan has excited scholarly interest like few other administrations. One of the Reagan administration's most controversial features was its intense ideologization. Thomas Langston argues that far from being a unique feature of the Reagan era, the important role played by ideologues was the culmination of a significant trend that began with Franklin Roosevelt and continued through a transitional stage during the administration of Lyndon Baines Johnson. . . . Much recent scholarship has focused on the need of presidents to fill the gap between inflated expectations and reality. Filling that gap may lead presidents to rely heavily on ideologues to develop and articulate a credible case for programmatic achievement, but that role may be significantly different from the one played by ideologues in presidency's of achievement. . . . Langston adds to a growing body of literature dealing with these larger topics of concern for a democratic polity. --Joseph A. Pika, American Political Science Review This monograph is a systematic analy

Thomas Langston argues that . . . the important role played by ideologues was the culmination of a significant trend that began with Franklin Roosevelt and continued through a transitional stage during the administration of Lyndon Baines Johnson. . . . Much recent scholarship has focused on the need of presidents to fill the gap between inflated expectations and reality. . . . . Langston adds to a growing body of literature dealing with these larger topics of concern for a democratic polity. </p> --Joseph A. Pika, <em>American Political Science Review</em></p> This is a troubling book, the more so because of its intelligence and the broad consultation that informs its arguments. . . . . One of the best things about this interesting book is that it helps us to see more clearly the pattern of change occurring in the post-war presidency as a consequence of the deterioration of political parties. . . . Langston argues that the time has come for ideologues in the modern presidency, that 'people of ideas are here to stay.' </p> --G. Calvin Mackenzie, <em>Congress & the Presidency</em></p> This monograph is a systematic analysis of the increasing role of ideologues, ideologists, or people of ideas in not only policy innovation but also in policy implementation at the national level. . . . A rather unique book, Ideologues and Presidents</em> is must reading for presidential scholars and professional political scientists. </p> --Donald M. Freeman, <em>Perspectives on Political Science</em></p> The book is stimulative of thought. . . . Professor Langston has contributed a good deal of useful probing into the shifting trends of American politics that surround the Presidency. </p> --William C. Spragens, <em>Presidential Studies Quarterly</em></p>

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Thomas S. Langston

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