Presidential Transitions: Eisenhower through Reagan

About this book

After all the attention focused on the rhetoric and ritual of presidential campaigns the almost total neglect of the weeks following the election is somewhat surprising. In less than three months newly elected presidents make decisions that profoundly affect their ability to govern. In an atmosphere simultaneously euphoric and chaotic they choose top personnel decide on policy priorities and establishr elations with the new Congress and with foreign leaders. They set the tone for governing and for national life. This book is about how the five newly elected nonincumbents since 1952--Eisenhower Kennedy Nixon Carter and Reagan--created their administrations. The book lifts the curtain on a seemingly tranquil orderly period to reveal the tumultuous events taking place behind the scenes. Here is a candid view of great men and women jockeying for position...of presidents misleading appointees about their future role...of statesmanlike behavior as well as pettiness and petulance. Based on oral histories manuscripts and interviews with participants the book provides a fresh reexamination of major American postwar figures and policy. How did Eisenhower actually end the Korean War? How did Nixon and Kissinger fail to end the Vietnam War? How was Robert McNamara almost prevented from becoming Secretary of Defense because of his religion? How did Hamilton Jordan beat out Jack H. Watson Jr. a media darling who headed a transition planning organization six times the size of JFKs in 1960? Why did Ronald Reagan have such a poor relationship with his first Secretary of State Alexander Haig? But the book is more than an illuminating account of particular events: it identifies recurring patterns in transitions and points out broad lessons for the future relevant for all sorts of transitions inside of an outside government.