Every new president faces a learning curve, and for Barack Obama it will be especially tough given that the country has a hurting economy, wars in two countries, and a big entitlement-spending problem as well as challenges in energy and healthcare.
Brookings presidential scholar Stephen Hess has been thinking about the transition and has pulled together a book aimed at an audience of one: What Do We Do Now? A Workbook for the President-Elect. Filled with tips, the book also includes a helpful reading list for President-elect Obama to keep nearby.
Here are works Hess recommends after surveying half a century of books on the presidency:
• William Safire’sLend Me Your Ears: Great Speeches in History, specifically for Abraham Lincoln’s two inaugural addresses, FDR’s first inaugural, and John F. Kennedy’s inaugural.
• John P. Burke’sBecoming President: The Bush Transition, 2000–2003.
• Charles O. Jones’s Preparing to Be President—which includes Richard Neustadt’s memos to Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton—and his Passages to the Presidency: From Campaigning to Governing.
• Bradley Patterson’s new book, To Serve the President: Continuity and Innovation in the White House Staff.
• Robert Schlesinger’sWhite House Ghosts: Presidents and Their Speechwriters.
• Fred Greenstein’sThe Presidential Difference: Leadership Style From FDR to George W. Bush.
• James P. Pfiffner’sThe Strategic Presidency: Hitting the Ground Running.
This article first appeared in the December 2008 issue of The Washingtonian. For more articles from that issue, click here.
Eight Books Mr. Obama Should Read
Every new president faces a learning curve, and for Barack Obama it will be especially tough given that the country has a hurting economy, wars in two countries, and a big entitlement-spending problem as well as challenges in energy and healthcare.
Brookings presidential scholar Stephen Hess has been thinking about the transition and has pulled together a book aimed at an audience of one: What Do We Do Now? A Workbook for the President-Elect. Filled with tips, the book also includes a helpful reading list for President-elect Obama to keep nearby.
Here are works Hess recommends after surveying half a century of books on the presidency:
• William Safire’s Lend Me Your Ears: Great Speeches in History, specifically for Abraham Lincoln’s two inaugural addresses, FDR’s first inaugural, and John F. Kennedy’s inaugural.
• John P. Burke’s Becoming President: The Bush Transition, 2000–2003.
• Charles O. Jones’s Preparing to Be President—which includes Richard Neustadt’s memos to Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton—and his Passages to the Presidency: From Campaigning to Governing .
• Bradley Patterson’s new book, To Serve the President: Continuity and Innovation in the White House Staff.
• Robert Schlesinger’s White House Ghosts: Presidents and Their Speechwriters.
• Fred Greenstein’s The Presidential Difference: Leadership Style From FDR to George W. Bush.
• James P. Pfiffner’s The Strategic Presidency: Hitting the Ground Running.
This article first appeared in the December 2008 issue of The Washingtonian. For more articles from that issue, click here.
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