Whatever Possessed the President? : Academic Experts and Presidential Policy, 1960-1988

Bob Wood is one of the rarities--the insider with true intellectual insight, the academic with true political feel. Whatever Possessed the President? reflects Wood's superior insight into politics and understanding of the policy process. It is an original contribution to our understanding of the presidency. Focusing on domestic, economic and social policy, Wood examines the influence of academic advisers on presidential decision-making from the Kennedy-Johnson years through the Reagan administration. He considers the recent shift from reliance on knowledge-based advisers to ideological loyalists.