How Governors Built the Modern American Presidency. Saladin M. Ambar

Wilson. Wilson's political writings and theories are explored and linked to his only prepresidential political experience as governor of New Jersey. Wilson's deconstruction and reinterpretation of the founding is presented along with his modern contributions to party relations, his bold moves in the legislative arena, and, finally, his innovative turn in press relations.

      Chapter 4 explores the governorship of FDR in New York. Roosevelt's strategic political mind is analyzed and his seemingly antiphilosophical bent uncovered and scrutinized. Here, in the person of FDR as Albany leader, a powerful but by no means unchallenged governor, we can discern the outlines of the fireside chats, later efforts at establishing party unity under the executive, and the contours of the New Deal. Importantly, Roosevelt's modern executive acumen—the one that most comes to define the emergence of the modern presidency—can be seen drawing from the wellsprings of his predecessors in New York State, including Al Smith, Grover Cleveland, and Samuel Tilden.

      In Chapter 5, I weigh the implications of executive power's centrality to American politics at the turn of the last century. By largely missing the governorship's role in the process of erecting the modern presidency, we have made an unintended secondary omission. This is the inability to see American executive power's growth as part of the narrative of the Progressive Era—an era in which governors challenged old conventions, opting for new tactics directed toward garnering popular support and progressive policy outcomes.

      The most basic contribution of this book is to fold the institution of governor into any analysis of the modern presidency, and to revise the tendency in the discourse of presidential studies to minimize the role of prior elective office. It is time to bring the executive, writ large, into presidential studies.

      This book is the product of many people and countless conversations that have shaped my thinking about politics over the years. In some ways, it grew out of a conversation over twenty years ago, when, as a fairly typical New Yorker, I was bemused and unimpressed on a visit to my girlfriend's home in Little Rock, Arkansas. After inquiring about the lack of a visible skyline from the approach to the quaint airport, I began to hear tall tales about the gifts of their young governor. Coming from the Empire State, I thought I knew what a real governor was all about. He was eloquent, ethnic, and nationally known. He was, in short, Mario Cuomo. I've since come to appreciate how easy it is to underestimate small beginnings in politics, and, more importantly, how easy it is to overlook the role governors play in American life. The following year, I spent a summer in Princeton, New Jersey, at the university's summer public policy program for students of color. There I met Michael Hanchard, who first sparked my interest in pursuing a career in political science. I have been in pursuit of the implications of executive power and the prospects of making a contribution in academia ever since.

      Those good hosts in Arkansas, Manuel and Gwendolyn Twillie, are now my in-laws and have been indispensable in providing me time, lodging, and overall encouragement over the years. All sons-in-law should be so blessed.

      Along the way, I have been introduced to marvelous researchers and thinkers in the field of American politics, not the least of which was the legendary Wilson Carey McWilliams, whose insights need no recounting here. Suffice it to say, I was privileged to be among his last students at Rutgers University. It was Carey who introduced me to my friend and mentor Daniel J. Tichenor, whose guidance and suggestions have been indispensable to the completion of this book and overwhelmingly responsible for whatever good qualities lie herein. Likewise, Dennis Bathory's generosity and keen sense of American political thought has been invaluable. It has been difficult to write about Tocqueville, even as sparingly as I have, knowing Dennis's insights are looming, and yet the joy is in hoping my views meet the muster of his probity. I have also been richly rewarded by the work and depth of analysis provided by Jane Junn, whose perspectives on the democratic implications of How Governors Built the Modern American Presidency have been a lodestar for me throughout. Innumerable others at Rutgers have been instrumental in challenging me to grow as a scholar in the very best sense. These include, but are in no way limited to, Beth Leech, Milton Heumann, Richard Lau, Gordon Schochet, Lisa Miller, and Ruth Mandel. I wish to single out Benjamin Peters for his particular encouragement and friendship. I am most appreciative of the time taken by these and other colleagues and friends, in reading this book.

      My research was generously supported by a fellowship at the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. I wish to thank the Miller Center and Sidney M. Milkis, in particular, for serving as my mentor as a Miller Fellow. His thoughtfulness, support, and encouragement have been an invaluable part of this journey. Sid is a one-of-a-kind scholar and his acute insights have been powerful reminders of just how challenging and worthwhile research into the presidency can be.

      In the course of conducting this research, I have been well served by the staff at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library at Hyde Park, New York, and the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library at Princeton University. Wallace Dailey, the Curator at the Theodore Roosevelt Collection at the Harvard College Library, was particularly helpful to me in obtaining documents related to Roosevelt's governorship. I am also indebted to the Library of Congress and its Manuscript Division housing the Theodore Roosevelt Papers, along with Penn State University and Emory University, for their assistance in helping me obtain reels from the Theodore Roosevelt Collection. To be certain, the librarians and staff of the Fairchild-Martindale Library at my home institution, Lehigh University, were exceedingly helpful to me along the way, as was my research assistant Colleen Casey. This kind of work cannot be done without such supportive individuals and institutions, and I am grateful to them.

      I would be remiss if I didn't thank the students whom I have taught history over the years. They have been remarkable reminders to me of the higher purpose underlying education—that in the unfettered exchange of ideas a stronger citizen body is forged. They have been absolutely wonderful, even as they awaited papers that were not always returned the very next day.

      It goes without saying, but not without appreciation, that I am most grateful to my wife, Carmen, who, for more than twenty years now, has simply been my very best friend.

      Introduction

      The Hidden Prince: Unveiling the Presidency's Executive Narrative

      Hence it appears that, except as to the concurrent authority of the President in the article of treaties, it would be difficult to determine whether that magistrate would, in the aggregate, possess more or less power than the Governor of New York.

      —Alexander Hamilton, Federalist 69, 1788¹

      It used to strike me, when I was trying to understand your history, that there had been a certain diminution at one time in the authority and power and influence of the State Governor.…I think it no less interesting to observe that of late years the tendency seems to have been for the power and influence and authority of the State Governor to increase and be revivified…your people seem to be looking more and more to your Governor as the representative of the consciousness and conscience of the people of the State.

      —Ambassador James Bryce, 1910²

       Prelude

      In late summer of his first year as governor, Woodrow Wilson attended the fourth annual conference of governors, held in Spring Lake, New Jersey. The so-called “House of Governors,” instituted by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1908,³ was illustrative of the growing power of state executives during the Progressive Era, and a locus for debating just what direction that newly found power should take. As the conference's host governor, Wilson unexpectedly found himself in the middle of a heated exchange with another, less prominent, newly elected governor. The New York Times reported that discussion over executive