The Constitutional Convention -- Creating the presidency -- Bringing the constitutional presidency to life: George Washington and John Adams -- The triumph of Jeffersonianism -- The age of Jackson -- The presidency of Abraham Lincoln -- The reaction against presidential power: Andrew Johnson to William McKinley -- Progressive politics and executive power: the presidencies of Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson -- The triumph of conservative republicanism -- The consolidation of the modern presidency: Franklin D. Roosevelt to Dwight D. Eisenhower -- Personalizing the presidency: John F. Kenney to Jimmy Carter -- A restoration of presidential power? Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush -- Bill Clinton and the modern presidency -- George W. Bush and unilateral presidential power -- Managing alone: Barack Obama and the dilemma of modern presidential leadership -- The vice presidency -- Appendix: Constitution of the United States; U.S. Presidents and Vice Presidents; Summary of presidential elections, 1789-2012.