Organizing the Presidency

Examining how the White House works—or doesn’t—before and after Trump

Donald Trump has reinvented the presidency, transforming it from a well-oiled if sometimes cumbersome institution into what has often seemed to be a one-man show. But even Trump’s unorthodox presidency requires institutional support, from a constantly rotating White House staff and cabinet who have sought to carry out—and sometimes resist—the president’s direct orders and comply with his many tweets.

Nonetheless, the Trump White House still exhibits many features of its predecessors over the past eight decades. When Franklin D. Roosevelt was inaugurated, the White House staff numbered fewer than fifty people, and most federal department were lightly staffed as well. As the United States became a world power, the staff of the Executive Office increased twentyfold, and the staffing of federal agencies blossomed comparably.

In the fourth edition of Organizing the Presidency, a landmark volume examining the presidency as an institution, Stephen Hess and James P. Pfiffner argue that the successes and failures of presidents from Roosevelt through Trump have resulted in large part from how the president deployed and used White House staffers and other top officials responsible for carrying out Oval Office policy. Drawing on a wealth of analysis and insight, Organizing the Presidency addresses best practices for managing a presidency that is itself a bureaucracy.

Praise for previous editions of Organizing the Presidency:

“Notable for its broad coverage, considerable insight, and graceful writing.”
— Presidential Studies Quarterly

“A remarkable book.”
— Newsweek

“This is the first book on the presidency that leaves readers with the feeling
that they have read a comprehensive treatment of the subject.”
— Annals of the American Academy

Stephen Hess is the author of numerous award-winning books about politics and the media, including The Presidential Campaign and America’s Political Dynasties from Adams to Clinton, the latter published by Brookings. James P. Pfiffner is University Professor in the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University and the author or editor of sixteen books on the presidency.