The Impossible Presidency

The Rise and Fall of America's Highest Office

By: Jeremi Suri

Narrated by: Chris Sorensen

Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

In The Impossible Presidency, celebrated historian Jeremi Suri charts the rise and fall of the American presidency, from the limited role envisaged by the Founding Fathers to its current status as the most powerful job in the world.

He argues that the presidency is a victim of its own success - the vastness of the job makes it almost impossible to fulfill the expectations placed upon it. As managers of the world's largest economy and military, contemporary presidents must react to a truly globalized world in a 24-hour news cycle. There is little room left for bold vision.

Suri traces America's disenchantment with our recent presidents to the inevitable mismatch between presidential promises and the structural limitations of the office. A masterful reassessment of presidential history, this book is essential listening for anyone trying to understand America's fraught political climate.

©2017 Jeremi Suri (P)2018 Tantor

Best explanations of founding, several presidents,

... but the treatment while peppered with insights, is uneven, in a way I will explain.
The explanation of the design of the presidency, the founders' inputs, and Washington's term, is fantastic. This alone is worth the price of admission here, and that is just the start.
Right away, what many listeners will trip over, is the criticism of Trump. I submit this should not be a drop-dead test of the worth of this book. This author has zero esteem for Trump, as appears briefly at the beginning and end of the book. But there is another, somewhat related issue: after several good appraisals of presidencies, their strengths and weaknesses, we arrive at Clinton and Obama. Here, the author goes full fanboy and apologist. The information isn't bad, but any balance decreases, for that segment of the book. It still does have worth, all through. This segment is a bit unfortunate, though, because there is so much good across most of the book. It is very listenable, thoughtful, and informative. The author does a fine job, for example, with Johnson's shortcomings Reagan's virtues. This book has significantly upgraded my understanding of the Constitution and our history, and I put a high bar on saying that, because I've taught it at college level (law classes) for almost 40 years. So, it is a mixed bag, on balance, a very good one.