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Burke's detailed and comprehensive account of the four presidential transitions from Jimmy Carter to Bill Clinton explores how each president-elect prepared to take office and carefully links those preparations to the performance and effectiveness of the new administration. Enriched by interviews with the key participants, this sobering tale of the difficulties that new presidents have encountered demonstrates the importance of well-organized and well-managed transitions to successful terms in office

"Presidential power is perhaps one of the most central issues in the study of the American presidency. Since Richard E. Neustadt's classic text, first published in 1960, there has not been a book that so thoroughly considers the subject. Presidential Power: Theories and Dilemmas by noted scholar John P. Burke provides an updated and comprehensive look at presidential power--past, present, and future. Burke examines and analyzes the core, underlying dilemma of presidential power--how presidents exert influence in our system of separate but shared powers--through the prism of the major theories of presidential power. These include Neustadt's classic theory of persuasion and bargaining, Samuel Kernell's "going public" theory, and the various cycles of historical time and internal time. Using illustrative examples from historical and contemporary presidencies, Burke illuminates and contextualizes these theories in a way that allows students to better understand how presidents exercise power over the legislative and policymaking processes to achieve their goals"--

This article examines issues that have emerged in the Trump national security system and its process of information analysis and deliberation during its first year and one half in office. It was troubled from the start, and it especially experienced a problematic transition period. It then faced the resignation of its initial National Security Council (NSC) advisor, Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, less than a month after Trump was inaugurated. This article explores how Flynn's eventual replacement, Lieutenant General H. R. McMaster, confronted a challenging task in restoring order and in appointing new personnel. He also increasingly faced White House criticism of his performance as NSC advisor as well as numerous reports that his days in the post were numbered (which indeed proved to be the case). On March 22, 2018, President Trump announced that John Bolton would replace McMaster. Bolton quickly moved in changing key personnel and in putting his own imprint on the post. Throughout, the national security process was overshadowed by a president who lacked foreign policy experience and whose decision‐making patterns and practices were often problematic.

Transitions to the presidency matter, especially concerning national security. What transpired for Donald J. Trump pales in comparison to the relatively smooth transition between the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations. As one source later noted, the Trump transition "went off the rails" after the election. This was especially so in the case of national security planning, which historically has not been affected as much by problematic presidential transitions. This article will explore what transpired during Trump's transition to the presidency and its impact on the national security system.

President Trump's establishment of his national security system proved highly problematic compared to those of his recent predecessors. Problems arose in its initial organization, especially the designation of his chief political strategist as a participant at its highest levels, later rescinded. Further difficulties developed with the resignation of his National Security Council advisor, after only 24 days on the job. The news media quickly pounced. They portrayed a presidency in disarray and a national security process as dysfunctional. It was a major blow to this new administration, even though it was unwilling to acknowledge it publicly. In his first solo press conference on February 16, 2017, Trump stated, "This administration is running like a fine‐tuned machine." Not quite. This article explores their early organizational difficulties in national security policy making.