This fascinating collection of 50 primary source documents offers a compact yet broad-based look at the development of the executive office. Judicious editing and contextual headnotes give students a look at the personalities and ideas that have shaped the institution, as well as insight into significant cases and events that have played pivotal roles in American political history. Based on extensive feedback from users, the third edition includes new selections that feature both historical and recent pieces—from FDR’s court-packing speech to Hamdan v. Rumsfeld case—dramatically showing students how presidents chart U.S. history.

Preface: A User’s Guide to The Evolving Presidency

1. The Constitution: Provisions Concerning the Presidency (1787)
The presidency, the main innovation of the Constitutional Convention, is created and its structure and powers outlined

2. Letters of Cato, Nos. 4 and 5 (1787)
An Anti-Federalist opponent of the proposed Constitution warns against the dangers of presidential power

3. NEW! The Federalist Papers, Nos. 69 through 73 (1788)
A Federalist supporter of the proposed Constitution defends the republican character of the presidency

4. George Washington’s First Inaugural Address (1789)
Washington establishes the model for inaugural addresses

5. James Madison’s Defense of the President’s Removal Power (1789)
Madison persuades Congress that the president should be chief executive of the bureaucracy

6. The Pacificus-Helvidius Letters (1793)
Alexander Hamilton and James Madison debate the extent of the president’s constitutional power in foreign affairs

7. George Washington’s Farewell Address (1796)
Washington marks his retirement from the presidency and looks ahead to the future of the nation

8. Thomas Jefferson’s First Inaugural Address (1801)
The first peaceful transfer of power from one party to another

9. Thomas Jefferson’s Letter to the Vermont Legislature (1807)
Jefferson establishes the two-term tradition for presidents

10. The Monroe Doctrine (1823)
An early assertion of presidential power in foreign policy-making at a time when the presidency was otherwise weak

11. The Tennessee General Assembly’s Protest against the Caucus System (1823)
The stage is set for the demise of the congressional caucus-centered presidential nominating process

12. Andrew Jackson’s First Message to Congress (1829)
The first outsider president grounds his authority in “the will of the majority”

13. Andrew Jackson’s Veto of the Bank Bill (1832)
Jackson activates the veto as a strong and effective power of the presidency

14. Abraham Lincoln’s Letter to Albert G. Hodges (1864)
Lincoln defends his use of prerogative power during the Civil War

15. The Gettysburg Address (1863)
Lincoln, in an effort to give meaning to the war, invokes the Declaration of Independence’s promise of equality and self-government

16. Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address (1865)
Lincoln invokes God’s judgment on both sides in the Civil War as the basis for seeking national reconciliation

17. Ex Parte Milligan (1866)
The Supreme Court proves more willing to curb presidential power after a war than during one

18. Articles of Impeachment against Andrew Johnson (1868)
The first president to be impeached is charged with abusing the removal power and defaming Congress through intemperate rhetoric

19. NEW! The Pendleton Act (1883)

20. Theodore Roosevelt’s and William Howard Taft’s Theories of Presidential Power (1913, 1916)
The classic debate on the proper scope of presidential power and leadership

21. NEW! Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points (1918)

22. NEW! The Teapot Dome Resolution (1924)
The nexus between congressional investigation and presidential scandal is forged

23. Myers v. United States (1926)
The Supreme Court broadly interprets the president’s constitutional power to remove executive branch officials

24. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s First Inaugural Address (1933)
FDR reassures a desperate nation and asks Congress for “broad executive power to wage war against the emergency” of economic depression

25. Humphrey’s Executor v. United States (1935)
The Supreme Court restricts the president’s removal power

26. United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp. (1936)
The Supreme Court declares that the president is the nation’s “sole organ in the field of international relations”

27. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Court-Packing” Address (1937)
FDR overreaches by attacking the Supreme Court and, in the process, sparks the creation of the “conservative coalition” in Congress

28. Report of the Brownlow Committee (1937)
The origins of the modern White House staff

29. Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952)
Justice Black’s opinion of the Court and Justice Jackson’s concurring opinion take different approaches to restraining presidential power

30. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Little Rock Executive Order (1957)
Eisenhower uses the president’s “executive” and “take Care” powers to enforce the integration of an Arkansas high school

31. John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address (1961)
The young president calls on the nation to “support any friend, oppose any foe” in the cold war

32. The Cuban Missile Crisis: John F. Kennedy’s Letter to Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev (1962)
Crisis decision-making resolves the most dangerous international confrontation in history

33. John F. Kennedy’s Civil Rights Address (1963)
In an effort to satisfy national and international concerns for racial justice, Kennedy urges the enactment of major civil rights legislation

34. Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Great Society” Speech (1964)
Johnson rouses public support for his ambitious domestic agenda

35. Lyndon B. Johnson’s Gulf of Tonkin Message (1964)
Congress writes a blank check to the president to wage war in Vietnam

36. Richard Nixon’s China Trip Announcement (1971)
The ultimate anticommunist uses secret diplomacy to open a relationship with the People’s Republic of China

37. The McGovern-Fraser Commission Report (1971)
The modern presidential nominating process takes shape

38. The War Powers Resolution (1973)
Congress tries to reclaim the war power from the president

39. Proposed Articles of Impeachment against Richard Nixon (1974)
The Watergate crisis brings down the president and his closest advisers

40. United States v. Nixon (1974)
The Supreme Court acknowledges but limits executive privilege

41. Gerald R. Ford’s Pardon of Richard Nixon (1974)
Ford jeopardizes his political standing by exercising the president’s only unchecked constitutional power on behalf of his predecessor

42. Jimmy Carter’s “Crisis of Confidence” Speech (1979)
A president elected by praising the people blames them for the problems of his administration

43. Ronald Reagan’s First Inaugural Address (1981)
In a new-style inaugural address, Reagan ushers in an era by declaring that “government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem”

44. Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha (1983)
The Supreme Court strikes down the legislative veto

45. George Bush’s Persian Gulf War Address (1991)
Bush’s greatest triumph foreshadows his worst defeat

46. Bill Clinton’s Third State of the Union Address (1996)
Clinton advocates an approach to governing that rises above traditional liberalism and conservatism

47. Clinton v. City of New York (1998)
The Supreme Court declares the line item veto unconstitutional

48. Articles of Impeachment against Bill Clinton (1998)
Clinton is impeached by the House and acquitted by the Senate for actions stemming from his sexual relationship with a White House intern

49. NEW! Speeches by Al Gore and George W. Bush Ending the 2000 Election Controversy (2000)
The closing chapter to one of the closest and most controversial presidential elections in history

50. NEW! George W. Bush’s War on Terrorism Address (2001)
In response to September 11, Bush commits his administration to fighting international terrorism

51. The Bush Doctrine (2002)
In preparation for war against Iraq, Bush announces a new approach to foreign policy

52. NEW! George W. Bush’s Signing Statement for the Defense Supplemental Appropriations Act (2005)

53. NEW! Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006)

Topical Guide to the Documents

“The American Presidency has always been a work in progress. Michael Nelson’s collection in The Evolving Presidency does a superb job of highlighting the efforts of previous generations to shape and re-shape the office. More than providing historical points of reference, these materials reliably spark renewed scholarly and classroom debate.”

“The Evolving Presidency is an indispensable supplement to my presidency course, and the new third edition makes very important and valuable additions. I’m particularly pleased that the new readings stem from both historical and recent events. As always, Nelson has chosen wisely among presidential speeches and other documents to provide students with the most essential original sources, and his introductions to the individual selections are well-reasoned and informative.”

“Nelson’s The Evolving Presidency is an excellent teaching tool. It usefully anchors the teaching of the presidency in concrete historical events, speeches, and documents. It has made my presidency course much better. The new additions to the third edition will only make it better.”

Michael Nelson is the Fulmer Professor of Political Science at Rhodes College and a nonresident senior fellow at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center for Public Affairs. More than fifty of his articles have been anthologized in works of political science, history, and English composition, and he has won national writing awards for his articles on music and baseball. His most recent books are The American Presidency: Origins and Development, 1776-2007, 5th Edition (with Sidney M. Milkis), How the South Joined the Gambling Nation: The Politics of State Policy Innovation, The Presidency and the Political System, 8th Edition, and Debating the Presidency: Conflicting Perspectives on the American Executive (edited with Richard J. Ellis).