When The President Calls

Interviews with thirty-five economic policymakers who advised presidents from Nixon to Trump. What is it like to sit in the Oval Office and discuss policy with the president? To know that the decisions made will affect hundreds of millions of people? To know that the wrong advice could be calamitous? When the President Calls presents interviews with thirty-five economic policymakers who served presidents from Nixon to Trump. These officials worked in the executive branch in a variety of capacities—the Council of Economic Advisers, the Office of Management and Budget, the Department of the Treasury, and the National Economic Council—but all had direct access to the policymaking process and can offer insights about the difficult tradeoffs made on economic policy. The interviews shed new light, for example, on the thinking behind the Reagan tax cuts, the economic factors that cost George H. W. Bush a second term, the constraints facing policymakers during the financial crisis of 2008, the differences in work styles between Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and the Trump administration's early budget process. When the President Calls offers a unique, behind-the-scenes perspective on US economic policymaking, with specific and personal detail—the turmoil, the personality clashes, the enormous pressure of trying to do the right thing while the clock is ticking. Interviews with Nicholas F. Brady, Lael Brainard, W. Michael Blumenthal, Michael J. Boskin, Stuart E. Eizenstat, Martin S. Feldstein, Stephen Friedman, Jason Furman, Austan D. Goolsbee, Alan Greenspan, Kevin A. Hassett, R. Glenn Hubbard, Alan B. Krueger, Arthur B. Laffer, Edward P. Lazear, Jacob J. Lew, N. Gregory Mankiw, David C. Mulford, John Michael Mulvaney, Paul H. O'Neill, Peter R. Orszag, Henry M. Paulson, Alice M. Rivlin, Harvey S. Rosen, Robert E. Rubin, George P. Shultz, Charles L. Schultze, John W. Snow, Gene B. Sperling, Joseph E. Stiglitz, Lawrence H. Summers, John B. Taylor, Paul A. Volcker, Murray L. Weidenbaum, Janet L. Yellen

Eisenhower helped shape agricultural policy under Coolidge and Hoover; carried out sensitive war assignments for Franklin Roosevelt; helped Truman with postwar labor problems; headed the United States National Commission for UNESCO; and served as special ambassador and closest confidant to his brother, Dwight Eisenhower. John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon all turned to Eisenhower for advice. Here he gives his views not only of the eight presidents he served, but of issues that confronted each of them.

A Presidential Tale of Friendship, Travel, and the Great Outdoors—​Newly Updated! In I Call Him “Mr. President”, Ken Raynor—head professional at Cape Arundel Golf Club in Kennebunkport, Maine, for thirty-eight years—tells the story of how President George H. W. Bush befriended him during Bush’s annual summer sabbatical to seaside Kennebunkport. Raynor’s personal relationship with Bush led him to experience everything from fishing trips to the wilds of Newfoundland to countless outings on the golf course, including Bush’s last as commander in chief. Along the way, Raynor assisted Bush, a WWII veteran, in welcoming world leaders, former presidents, celebrities, and PGA Tour stars to the quaint Cape Arundel Golf Club and saw the excitement in their eyes during the outings. But he most cherishes his time after the rounds, in the Bush family home on nearby Walker’s Point or in a tiny fishing boat, when the president would put his feet up, stare out at the Atlantic, and recount the day’s events. In this book, Raynor reflects on the life lessons he gained from a friendship born outdoors that has continued to develop over decades, during golf outings that have ranged from Maine to Augusta National to the White House putting green, international fishing trips, retreats at Camp David, flying in Marine One, and many other unforgettable experiences. Raynor has likely played more rounds with a POTUS than any PGA professional in history.

Judith Michaels provides an in-depth examination of the Senate-confirmed presidential appointees of the Gorge H. W. Bush administration, and analyzes what these choices reveal about him, his administration, and the institution of political appointments itself. She compares this research to other administrations in the modern era. Particularly fascinating is how Bush's appointees compare with those of Ronald Reagan.

Modern presidents are CEOs with broad powers over the federal government. The United States Constitution lays out three hypothetically equal branches of government--the executive, the legislative, and the judicial--but over the years, the president, as head of the executive branch, has emerged as the usually dominant political and administrative force at the federal level. In fact, Daniel Gitterman tells us, the president is, effectively, the CEO of an enormous federal bureaucracy. Using the unique legal authority delegated by thousands of laws, the ability to issue executive orders, and the capacity to shape how federal agencies write and enforce rules, the president calls the shots as to how the government is run on a daily basis. Modern presidents have, for example, used the power of the purchaser to require federal contractors to pay a minimum wage and to prohibit contracting with companies and contractors that knowingly employ unauthorized alien workers. Presidents and their staffs use specific tools, including executive orders and memoranda to agency heads, as instruments of control and influence over the government and the private sector. For more than a century, they have used these tools without violating the separation of powers. Calling the Shots demonstrates how each of these executive powers is a powerful weapon of coercion and redistribution in the president's political and policymaking arsenal.

The transition from President Donald J. Trump to President Joseph R. Biden Jr. stands as one of the most dangerous periods in American history. But as #1 internationally bestselling author Bob Woodward and acclaimed reporter Robert Costa reveal for the first time, it was far more than just a domestic political crisis. Woodward and Costa interviewed more than 200 people at the center of the turmoil, resulting in more than 6,000 pages of transcripts—and a spellbinding and definitive portrait of a nation on the brink. This classic study of Washington takes readers deep inside the Trump White House, the Biden White House, the 2020 campaign, and the Pentagon and Congress, with eyewitness accounts of what really happened. Intimate scenes are supplemented with never-before-seen material from secret orders, transcripts of confidential calls, diaries, emails, meeting notes and other personal and government records, making Peril an unparalleled history. It is also the first inside look at Biden’s presidency as he began his presidency facing the challenges of a lifetime: the continuing deadly pandemic and millions of Americans facing soul-crushing economic pain, all the while navigating a bitter and disabling partisan divide, a world rife with threats, and the hovering, dark shadow of the former president.

A Presidential Tale of Friendship, Travel, and the Great Outdoors—​Newly Updated! In I Call Him “Mr. President”, Ken Raynor—head professional at Cape Arundel Golf Club in Kennebunkport, Maine, for thirty-eight years—tells the story of how President George H. W. Bush befriended him during Bush’s annual summer sabbatical to seaside Kennebunkport. Raynor’s personal relationship with Bush led him to experience everything from fishing trips to the wilds of Newfoundland to countless outings on the golf course, including Bush’s last as commander in chief. Along the way, Raynor assisted Bush, a WWII veteran, in welcoming world leaders, former presidents, celebrities, and PGA Tour stars to the quaint Cape Arundel Golf Club and saw the excitement in their eyes during the outings. But he most cherishes his time after the rounds, in the Bush family home on nearby Walker’s Point or in a tiny fishing boat, when the president would put his feet up, stare out at the Atlantic, and recount the day’s events. In this book, Raynor reflects on the life lessons he gained from a friendship born outdoors that has continued to develop over decades, during golf outings that have ranged from Maine to Augusta National to the White House putting green, international fishing trips, retreats at Camp David, flying in Marine One, and many other unforgettable experiences. Raynor has likely played more rounds with a POTUS than any PGA professional in history.