The Fate of the Union: America's Rocky Road to Political Stalemate

Illuminates the path down which our politics is headed in Clinton's second term and beyond.. In the final decades of the twentieth century, the circumstances of each quadrennial American presidential contest have piled on the next, melding into the past and suggesting the future. The Fate of the Union: America's Rocky Road to Political Stalemate explores this progression by examining the Clinton presidency as a continuum: first, placing it in the context of recent predecessors-from Truman to Bush-and then relating to the events that lead to his election in 1992, shaped his inaugural term, and enabled him to win four more years in the White House. Robert Shogan's timely examination illuminates the path down which our politics is headed in Clinton's second term and beyond. The dreary presidential campaign of 1996 and Clinton's disillusioning presidency matched the convulsive pattern of events which yanked the nation in every direction except forward throughout the final decades of the twentieth century. The swings of the previous decade with the Republican ascension in Congress and the Democratic presence in the White House, were less an aberration than a continuation of the disruptions that haunted the post-depression American political system. The Fate of the Union: America's Rocky Road to Political Stalemate illustrates how the circumstances of each quadrennial American presidential contest have piled on the next, melding into the past and suggesting the future. The book explores the Clinton presidency as a continuum: first, placing it in the context of recent predecessors-from Truman to Bush-and then relating to the events that lead to his election in 1992, shaped his inaugural term, and enabled him to win four more years in the White House.Author timely examination shows that short of a thorough changing of the Constitution, the best prevention for an ever-worsening political system is to guard against self-delusion.

Table of Contents:
Born to Fail The Coincumbents: The Price of Pragmatism The Prince of Ambivalence The Contender: Who Else Is There? The Prophet: Back to the Future The Unraveling The Crybaby The Lawmaker The Pitchfork Rebellion The Return of the Comeback Kid Divided They Ran The New Political Order

About the Author :
For more than 30 years and over the course of seven presidencies, Robert Shogan covered the political scene from Washington as national political correspondent for Newsweek and the The Los Angeles Times . He is currently Adjunct Professor of Government at the Center for Study of American Government of Johns Hopkins University. He lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland.