Presidential Transitions Eisenhower through Reagan [Paperback]

Focusing on how five newly elected nonincumbent presidents since 1952--Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Carter, and Reagan--created their administrations, Brauer here offers a behind-the-scenes look at the transfer of power in the White House. His study reveals great men and women jockeying for position, presidents misleading appointees about their future role, and statesmanlike behavior as well as pettiness and petulance. Based on oral histories, manuscripts, and interviews with participants, Brauer provides a fresh reexamination of major American postwar figures and policy. More than an illuminating account of particular events, the book identifies recurring patterns in transitions and reveals broader lessons for the future.

A pioneering work in a neglected area of presidential studies....Lively and engaging. --Kenneth W. Thompson, University of Virginia

Goes beyond being interesting and useful. Beyond question, it is the best book on presidential transitions that I've seen, and I've read all I could find on the subject. --John Ehrlichman

Comprehensive....An important and readable book. --West Coast Review of Books

A splendidly written, deeply researched study of the ways in which newly elected presidents...have managed their transitions from candidacy to incumbency. With admirable balance and objectivity, [Brauer] describes and analyzes the successes and failures of these transitions, and offers carefully stated conclusions about the process. --James T. Patterson, Brown University

Brauer's study should be slipped into the book bags of the current crop of presidential contenders. --The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science

The first full length treatment of transitions [in] almost three decades....Brauer has combined careful scholarship in manuscript and oral history collections with numerous participant interviews, relying principally on primary sources. --Pol³: